Chapter 2
"YOU SHOT A HUMAN!" Angela almost lost control of the car. Constantine had to reach over and straighten the wheel.
"HOW THE HELL COULD YOU SHOOT A HUMAN!"
"Angela would you mind driving the damn car before be both end up on the other side. I really don't want to get there at this exact moment."
Angela grabbed the steering wheel and resumed driving, but her eyes kept darting at Constantine.
"You shot a human? A mortal? Not a Demon?"
"I've 'deported' lots of Demons." Constantine replied, "None have ever bled red blood."
"Oh my god……."
"Actually, I don't think he'd be that happy with me right now."
"Oh my god……"
"We've covered him already. Now get us back to Midnite's"
"Oh my god….."
"No Midnite." Constantine sighed and looked out the window, "There is something not right about this."
"Not right? John, you shot a mortal! A human girl!"
"Then why the sulfur smell?" he asked, "You said yourself she has no science classes. And why couldn't we detect her psychically. We need to talk to Midnite."
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The drive back to Midnite's went smoothly, which caused them (mostly Angela) to worry. Constantine had just fired a weapon on a college campus, and shot, what they believed to be, a human.
Where were the police?
The stopped outside the club and quickly entered.
They approached the bouncer quickly. He gave them a glance and simply moved the rope. Constantine paused only briefly to stare at the bouncer. He hadn't even shown them a tarot card.
Entering the bar itself, Constantine knew he was in trouble. Hell, even Angela could tell. Every single eye in the place, glowing red, white, or mortal, was looking straight at him and Angela.
Somehow, what he had done had flashed throughout this hidden world like a brushfire.
He and Angela walked silently through the crowd towards Midnite's office. The eyes continued to follow him, right up until they vanished down the back hall.
"John…." Angela said softly.
"Yeah," he replied, "I know."
They approached the office door. It opened before they could even knock.
"Get in here!" came Midnite's voice.
Constantine and Angela entered. Midnite was standing behind his desk, practically glaring at him. But he wasn't alone. Ellie stood in the room, her eyes locked on him, tail laying still. The second figure was a little more surprising.
"Gabriel." Constantine said, staring at the former Angel, "How's mortal life treating you?"
"You really have no idea what you've done have you?" Gabriel, said, refusing to respond to Constantine's verbal barb.
"I think I have a pretty good idea." Constantine replied, his face darkening.
"I don't think you really do John." Ellie spoke up, "The Queen wants your hide."
Constantine and Angela both turned and stared at Ellie.
"Queen?" Angela repeated.
"I'd have thought Lucifer would want me." Constantine grumbled, "He came for me before."
"The Queen holds dominion over Hell for Lucifer." Ellie replied. She then smirked, "You really know who to piss off don't you?"
"How did I piss off a Queen? And since when does that sadistic basterd not run his own Domain?" Constantine asked, "I thought……"
"He does what he wishes." Ellie replied, "As to how you pissed the Queen off, I thought that'd be obvious."
"It wasn't John's fault!" Angela shouted, "We both thought she was a Demon! We didn't know she was human until John shot her!"
The entire room went quiet.
"You didn't know?" Midnite asked.
"No." Constantine replied, "She had that wonderful sulfur smell all Demons have, and I couldn't read her."
"You thought she was mortal?" Gabriel asked.
"She bled red blood." He sat down heavily in a chair, "That kind of wound…….she isn't going to make it. So I'm condemned back into Hell." He looked up at Gabriel. "You were right. It was my choice, and I screwed up."
"John," Gabriel said softly, "You didn't shoot a mortal."
"Yes I did." Constantine said, "McLintok said he and Mark had her pegged as a demon. Angela and I had her pegged as a demon. But she was human."
"No," Ellie said, "She isn't. Technically."
Constantine and Angela looked at Ellie curiously. Even Midnite looked at the demon curiously.
"What do you mean?" Angela asked.
"Mana Kirishima IS a demon." Ellie said, "But only half. The rest of her is mortal."
Constantine and Midnite stared at Ellie. Angela shook her head.
"You mean she's like you." She said, "A demon under human skin?"
"No." Ellie replied, shaking her head. "Me, and others like my kind are low level demons, above soldier demons, but still low. Kirishima is high level demon, a Class 2 as a matter of fact. The high level demons have power we low level ones don't."
"They balance out all the gods in Heaven." Gabriel added, "With the same powers as Heaven, though directed towards mankind's misery."
"But you said Kirishima is only half demon." Constantine said, "And she isn't like you."
Ellie nodded. "The high level demons like Kirishima look, act, feel, and bleed like normal humans. But they are immortal, and have powers beyond your belief." Ellie glanced around at all present. "Kirishima is technically the daughter of a former General in the army of Hell. He in turn was the son of the Queen's sister."
"What do you mean 'technically'?" Midnite asked.
Ellie narrowed her eyes. "The General liked to have 'fun' on the mortal world, like other demons. You ever heard stories of women vanishing, turning up dead, or worse." Seeing Constantine and Midnite nod, she continued. "Kirishima's mother was one of those woman, only she survived to give birth to Kirishima, making Mana a very rare Demon."
"Oh my god….." Angela murmured.
"He doesn't have anything to do in this." Ellie said, "The Queen is quite fond of Kirishima. She is very……"
The sounds of a disturbance outside in the hall reached their ears. Midnite glared at the door as they flew open. The bouncer stood there a dazed look on his face.
"Who dares….?" Midnite began.
The bouncer fell to the floor, apparently unconscious. Behind him was a hooded figure. Constantine could feel the darkness oozing from the figure. A quick glance showed that Angela and Midnite could feel it as well. Gabriel moved as far from the figure as he could.
The figure entered the office, the doors closing behind it. Ellie walked forward and fell to one knee before the figure.
"Milady." She said in greeting.
The figure pulled back the hood, revealing a blond haired woman with red eyes. Markings adorned her face, two slash marks on her forehead, and triangles under her eyes. She glared at Ellie.
"Where is the son of a bitch?" the woman asked.
Ellie simply pointed at Constantine. The woman started towards him. She stopped as Midnite moved in front of her.
"This is a neutral place!" he said, "There will be no fighting here!"
The woman glared at Midnite, her eyes actually began to glow a bright red.
"Lady Mara." Ellie whispered softly.
Mara turned and glared at Ellie a moment. When her gaze came back to Midnite, the glow was gone from her eyes. She nodded at Midnite. He moved out of the way, and Mara resumed her walk towards Constantine. He rose to his feet as she stopped in front of him. The two stared at each other for several long moments.
"Why?" Mara asked.
"She had my Son killed." Constantine replied.
Mara blinked.
"What!"
"She had my son killed." He repeated, "To prevent him from deporting her back to Hell. He found out she was killing college students and taking their hearts."
Mara stared at Constantine wide eyes. Then she began to chuckle. That chuckle became all out laughter. The other's looked at each other confused.
"Do you find the killing of mortals to be funny?" Gabriel asked.
"No." Mara said as she wiped tears from her eyes, "I find the idea of you thinking Mana could kill someone, especially a mortal, funny."
"What?"
"Mana hates being a demon." Mara explained, "She does it, but she's been doing it rather badly. She's only been going after hardcore criminals and such." Mara paused for a moment. "Although, she did kill off those Cultists that were ripping out mortal hearts."
"What about my son?" Constantine asked, "He knew she was a Demon and she killed him because of it!"
"There are around fifteen or so people on this planet right now that know Mana is a Demon." Mara stated, "Now there are five more. She hasn't killed any of them, though there is one that would like to beat the snot out of her for trying to steal her boyfriend."
"She didn't have our son killed?" Angela asked.
Mara nodded. "She doesn't talk to other Demons. Never has. Other Demons see her as inferior. Only the Queen, myself, and her teacher see her as otherwise."
"So who killed my son?" Constantine asked, "Demons were involved!"
"Lucifer and Mammon aren't exactly fans of yours. Then again, who is?" Mara stated, "The Boss is also a bit annoyed that the Queen has reigned everyone in a bit." Mara sighed. "We can guess all we want, but if we really must know, we'll just have to ask your son."
Everyone in the room blinked.
"You're not serious." Ellie said, "That's totally against the rules!"
"They would never let this happen." Gabriel added.
"What does she mean?" Angela asked.
Mara ignored the comments and looked at Midnite.
"May I use your phone?"
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Constantine watched as the powerful demoness paced the room. She finished her phone call minutes before. Ellie was looking highly nervous, even Gabriel had a bit of fear on his face.
"Any idea what we're waiting for?" Angela asked from behind him.
"Not sure." Constantine replied.
"She was speaking in Japanese." Midnite said from where he sat.
Constantine turned and stared at the witch doctor.
"So besides flooding us with cheap TVs and cars," he began, "They're taking over heaven?"
Before Midnite could reply, a rattle filled the room. Everyone glanced over at a table against the wall where a water decanter sat on a tray with glasses. The decanter rattled on the tray while the water inside bubbled violently. There was a blast of light and a woman with long black hair was floating above them. Like Gabriel when Mara entered, Ellie immediately moved as far from the woman as she could.
Like Mara, the new woman's face had facial markings. Unlike Mara's, this woman's markings were blue, and consisted of open blue triangles under her eyes and an open oblong circle on her forehead. She landed on the floor and glared at Mara.
"Why the hell am I getting phone calls from Heaven to meet you!" she asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in Alaska?"
"I was reassigned." Mara replied, "And this is important."
"Important!" the woman shouted, "The only things you've ever done that were important was being a pain in our ass!"
Mara kept her voice even and level.
"It's Mana important."
The new woman's whole attitude changed. The anger was gone, now replaced by concern.
"What's the matter? Is she alright?"
Mara pointed at Constantine.
"He shot her." she stated.
The woman whirled about and angrily stared at Constantine.
"Why the Hell would you shoot her!" she shouted.
"Why do you care?" Constantine replied.
"What!" The woman turned back to Mara. "Just who the Hell is this creep!"
"Skuld, Goddess of the Future," Mara said, "Meet John Constantine, thorn in everyone's ass."
Skuld turned back and stared at Constantine a moment. She then turned back to Mara.
"This is Constantine?"
"Yep."
"The guy that flipped off Lucifer?"
"Yep."
"The one person Lucifer wanted to get his hands on, even if Gendo Ikari was still alive?"
"Yep."
Skuld turned and looked back at Constantine.
"Impressed?" he asked.
"No." she replied, "I thought you'd be taller. So why'd you shoot Mana?"
"She killed our son." Angela said.
Skuld glanced at Angela.
"You honestly think Mana would kill someone?" the Goddess asked, "Boy you people don't know her very well."
"I was thinking they could talk to their son." Mara said, "And he could tell us who killed him."
Skuld's eyes widened.
"But that's not allowed! It's forbidden to……" her voice trailed off and she stared at the Demoness with a sudden look of understanding. "You got Urd to ask Father didn't you?"
Mara shrugged.
"Dammit Mara!" Skuld grumbled, "That's why Urd said I wasn't going to like what I was about to do."
"Question." Constantine raised his hand. "Just what are you about to do?"
Skuld just turned and began muttering unintelligibly. Mara gave a small smile.
"She is going to take us to Heaven to talk to your son." The demoness said.
"Us?" Skuld said, "What's this 'us' stuff?"
"I'm coming." Mara growled, "When I go back to the Queen I want to have answers."
"Yeah right." Skuld muttered. She turned and looked at Gabriel, Ellie, and Midnite. She looked long at Midnite, then back at Mara.
"This that famous Bar you kept talking about to Urd?"
"Maybe." Mara replied.
Skuld shook her head and looked back at Constantine and Angela.
"Well let's get this trip done shall we?"
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The four appeared in a lush green field outside a large pure white wall. The two mortals looked around.
"Heaven?" Constantine asked.
Skuld pointed at the wall.
"On the other side." She said, "You didn't think I'd actually bring you AND a demon into Heaven did you?"
"Well it would make seeing my son easier." Constantine replied.
"Please." Skuld growled, "I'm already risking a lot by having you here to see you son."
"You aren't the only one sister." Came another female voice.
A tall platinum blond goddess was walking towards them. Her facial markings consisted of triangles under her eyes, and an upside down triangle on her forehead. Just behind her was…..
"Mark!" Angela shouted, running towards her son. Constantine followed at a slower pace.
"Urd." Mara said, nodding her head in greeting.
"Mara." Urd replied, "How was Alaska?"
"Fuck you."
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"It's just like you said it was Dad." Mark said, "Big city, lots of light…….." He paused for a moment. "A lot of the Gods react to the name though."
"I imagine they would." Constantine replied, "I've done a lot of things that aren't likely to be forgotten soon. By either side."
"Mark," Angela began, "Are you…..?"
"I'm fine Mom." Mark replied, "I'm here aren't I?"
"How did you end up here?" Constantine asked, "We went to McLintok. He said it was that Demon at the college. A red head named Kirishima."
Mark frowned.
"He said that?"
"Yes." Angela replied, "We went to the college and found her."
"I shot her." Constantine said.
Mark's eyes widened.
"You deported her?"
"I don't know." Constantine growled, "I've gone from believing she's a demon, to a human, and now back to demon. When I left she was on the ground in a puddle of her own blood."
Mark sighed.
"I wish you hadn't." he said, "It wasn't her."
Constantine crossed his arms and stared at his son.
"So I shot a demon? I've done it before. What makes shooting this one so bad? Is it because of the Queen?"
"She's different Dad." Mark replied, "Look, you told me demons were evil, that it was our job to remove the more 'unruly' ones from the world. She wasn't anything like that."
"Demons are tricky beings." Constantine said, "You can never turn your back on them. They'll find a way to slip a knife into it."
Mark rolled his eyes.
"Yes Dad I know."
"How do you know so much about her?" Angela asked, "McLintok said you investigated her because of human sacrifices?"
Mark nodded. "For years, young women from the college ended up dead with their hearts removed. At first we didn't know what to look for. Most of the sites where the girls were found were out in the open, and old. We had nothing to go on till another one was killed. So we worked on other cases. Then it happened. A girl was found dead in her dorm, heart removed. I was there within a day of the discovery, and was able to sense the presence of a demon."
Mark looked off into the distance.
"I used every trick you taught me. I even tried 'surfing'." Angela frowned, while Constantine raised an eyebrow, clearly impressed. "In the end, it was just dumb luck. I was walking through Fraternity row when I sensed not one, but two demons. One house was just oozing with dark energy. I wasn't able to get in, but I was able to look in a basement window. There was a dozen or so frat boys in robes that I could see, all standing in front of an alter. The demon girl was in there, along with a male demon, and what I can only guess was the next victim. What surprised me was that the demoness was protecting the victim, preventing the male demon from harming her. Then this cat showed up……."
"A cat?" Angela asked.
"Cats are partially in both worlds." Constantine remarked, "Or did you forget when I found Isabel."
"….regardless," Mark continued, "The male demon left. The cult was rather upset, I think he was the one that they were sacrificing too. The demoness then said something to them, and left with the victim and the cat. A fire started, and the cult tried to leave, but some kind of force field stopped them."
"The demoness?" Constantine asked.
Mark nodded. "I believe so. I followed them back to the dorm. The demoness comforted the victim all the way back. I spent another four months observing the demoness. She and that victim spent a lot of time with each other, and each seemed to enjoy the others company. I only saw the demoness use her powers two other times. Both times she was defending someone against a criminal."
"That's what Demon Mara said." Angela murmured.
"I told McLintok." Mark said, "My investigation of the demoness ended months ago. She's harmless unless you're committing an evil act."
"McLintok said you were killed by her." Constantine said, "Because you found her out."
Mark shook his head.
"In my entire investigation of her, I only spoke with her once. If she knew who or what I was doing, she didn't react or do a thing."
"McLintok lied to us." Constantine growled.
"I don't know why he did that." Mark said, "But he has been acting strangely lately." He paused for a moment, "For a demon, Kirishima is respected up here, at least by a few of the Gods and Goddesses."
"Who killed you?" Constantine finally asked.
Mark shook his head.
"Last thing I remember was trying to exorcise a demon from a girl. Then there was pain, and I was waking up here."
"Then we have nothing." Angela said.
"No." Constantine said, "We do have a lead. McLintok."
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John Constantine was pissed off.
First off, his son was dead. Demons had killed him. But one man knew why.
And he couldn't go after him.
Upon their return from Heaven, Mara had told them in no uncertain terms that he and Angela were to wait in their hotel room. The Demoness herself was returning to Hell and reporting to the Queen.
Constantine had already been planning on leaving to go after McLintok as soon as the Demoness left. Angela, having lived with the man for many years now, knew he was planning this.
Unfortunately, Mara, like most deities, didn't trust Constantine. She placed a shield in place, preventing Constantine from getting very far out of the hotel room. So far, every trick he'd learned over the years had failed him.
The really annoying part was that Angela was able to freely come and go from the room. But being a former cop, Angela really wasn't up for vigilante justice.
So he was left waiting for the demoness. Another reason for being pissed.
About an hour or so after Mara left, there was a knock at their hotel room door. Constantine went to the door and flung it open.
"It's about damn……" he began to say, but stopped.
"What's wrong?" Angela asked as she hurried over. Her first thought was that he had just frightened some bellhop or maid.
Arriving at the door, Angela wished it had been a maid.
Standing before them, her left arm in a sling, was Mana Kirishima, the demoness Constantine had shot the day before.