Sorry about the delay, writers's blok.
Bauer wrapped his jacket around the massive iron disk as he climbed up the stairs of the apartment building, an elderly neighbor of his greeted him as he walked past him.
"Good Evening, Jason"
"Hi, Rod." said Bauer abruptly as he tried to hide his eyes.
"What you got there? Hub Caps"
"Yes, it's uh, for work"
"Work?" scoffed Rod, "Whatever you want to call it."
Bauer head for his apartment door and hastily unlocked it, slipped in quickly and locked the door again.
Most of the building didn't know about the tenant living in apartment 6D known as Jason Bauer, and the few who did know him by name were under the false impression that he was no more than an eccentric artist, though they didn't know what kind of art nor did they care mush to find out. They simply ignored strange things about him like how he insist on sleeping till noon and rarely ever leaving after sunset, and the strange sounds that usually come from his apartment late at night.
Jason turned the lights to his apartment on; it was mostly soundproofed with very little furniture. He removed his shirt and the retractable sword apparatus strapped to his wrist, looking at the blood on the edge with slight remorse.
He head to the center of the hall where a work desk was set up and covered with many power tools. He slammed down the mass of fused keys and bolts as he put on a protective welders mask and ignited a blow torch.
"May I take your coat, Mr. Constantine?"
John looked at the young man in the posh Manhattan Apartment Giles has taken him to.
"Sure." said Constantine as he allowed the attendant to relieve him of his trench coat.
"So, is this your place"
"It belongs to the council"
"Right."
Gils and Constantine sat on opposite as the attendant brought them some tea to drink.
"The Watchers council was destroyed two years back, blown up along with a great deal of its staff and resources, hundreds of rare ancient texts were lost forever, so we had to start from nothing. There is a Law firm in your home town that offered us many of their resources to copy and we've also been looking around the world for anything that'll help..."
Giles voice started to tense as he went on, "Then last week a Volume dated to the early days of the second millennium was found in Syria. It has been authenticated to be over a thousand year old. It's a collection of prophecies foretelling accounts of the end of the world, saying all will be averted but the last, which tells of when the world is swallowed by a beast mastered by, and I quote; 'A league of Fallen Angels'. And of the prophecy is correct, the world will end this month."
"Are you sure it's not the work of some Nostradamus wannabe?"
"All the accounts mentioned up to this one were right on the spot, including several ones that I actually witnessed. And also including a certain prophecy that speaks of a man breathing smoke that will have the devil foiling his own son's apocalypse. That's you, Mr. Constantine."
Constantine sipped of his tea and said, "I'm not sure my smoking habit has any business in any prophecy but I'll let it slide."
An attendant rushed to talk to Giles in discretion, the news was obviously of great importance as Giles removed his glasses and wiped them vigorously.
"What is it"
"Our Headquarters in London has just received a call from a man in New York saying he has news about the situation and called for an urgent meting. He shall meet us here shortly"
"Who is he"
"He claims to be non other than Cartaphilus"
"Sounds familiar"
"You may better know him as the Errant Wandering Jew."(1)
Jason Bauer wasn't what his neighbors thought he was, nor was he what his comrades of the days heist thought he was either.
He was half-breed demon, one of the few remaining ones, though not in the same sense. Unlike the halberd demons he never served under hell's command, he in face never went to hell, and was destined to walk the path of life as a human, never to truly blend in with humans, and always under the watch of the demons that saw him.
Loud music blared in the background as he worked on the iron disk, carefully dismantling it, looking for the one thing that would make all the difference this week.
He had infiltrated the order of Galat a while ago and joined one of their legions in anticipation of this day. The day when thy would steal the key of Raum. And it was in his hands at last.
Jason broke off a peace of iron from the disk and held it under a lamp and looked in awe at the key in his hand. It was as old as time itself, it was in existence since the days of Adam and Eve, however it was flawlessly crafted, made of silver, shinning like a mirror with a wet surface, it's head was shaped in shape of six pairs of wings, some peaces of metal were still attached to it, as they were from other keys welded to it. So Jason placed it on the table and struck it with a hammer, with strength fierce enough to shatter an ordinary key to bits, but with this key it was sonly enough to separate the bits of metal from the key, while it stayed the same, not even the faintest scratch on it.
Jason removed the mask from his face, as his initial awe worse off and he started thinking of what's to com next, the members of his group were all dead, killed by that mysterious Wizard that appeared today, sooner or later, word will reach the Order that he had run off with the key. Those backing the Wizard will be after the key as well.
He had to move on, and protect the key at any price.
Constantine and Giles stood up as the doors to the study's apartment parted and Cartaphilus walked in.
Constantine had mixed feelings about meeting Cartaphilus, he knew of his legend well.
Cartaphilus was a normal man working as a shoemaker and living in Jerusalem two thousand years ago, till one day that lives in infamy came, when the Nazarene Carpenter was nailed to a cross and forced to walk to a hill where his cross would be erected. On his painful march, the Carpenter rested his hand on a wall to have a second of rest, but Cartaphilus who had feelings of hate towards him pushed him off the wall, adding insult to pain. The Nazarene simply looked at him and said, "Thou shalt go on forever till I return."
And so he was cursed, to walk through god's land, never aging or dying for centuries till the second coming of Jesus Christ. Over the years he had worked for his redemption, gaining great power as a Magician, he had become one of the names that Occultists learned to revere and Demons learned to fear. But all that didn't make either Constantine or Giles feel any less nervous about meeting with him.
"Cartaphilus, I'm Rupert Giles," said Giles as he extended his hand, "As director of the Watcher's Council, It's an honor to meet you."
"John Constantine." said John as he shook hands with Cartaphilus.
The three Occultists sat to a round table.
"We've been informed that you hold valuable information about an impending apocalypse."
"I might, but first I have to know what you know"
"We've merely discovered that a group of fallen angels are planning on ending the world"
"Raum of the Thrones and Cherubim being their leader?"
Constantine and Giles exchanged a look, that information was only known recently and by some Council staff only. Cartaphilus knew more than possible.
"Yes, we've deciphered a prophecy and of what we understand, it says that when Lucifer rebelled against god, his army was lead by five other Angels, Raum being his second in command."
"Go on."
"It says that when they lost, they were banished to hell, where the angels made an agreement that Lucifer would rule Hell, and the six angels would reside in a castle of ice on earth. The Devil said that they would unite when the end of the world will truly come. Unless he was killed before that, in that case he the other five would mourn his death for a few months before setting off to unleash a beast locked somewhere in earth that will devour mankind. We do not know where and what the east is exactly, we simply know that a Key forged by Lucifer was given to Raum, which would unlock the beast's chamber, it was kept on earth as well, and for their plan to work, they must find it.
"The key was guarded by a Demonic Order for centuries, till it was wiped out by a rivaling Coven and the key was taken. But it was lost again during the crusades."
"Not precisely"
"What do you mean"
"There is a small time informer I know who has come across the location of the key, it apparently wound up in the possession of a modern artist, who used it in a piece of his. Anyway this informer sold the location of the key to the order of Galat, and they went to steal it, I arrived just in time to almost foil their robbery. I took most of them out till one of them put his sword through me, I watched him get away."
Cartaphilus sighed in frustration, "I was so close."
"Actually it's not over yet," said Giles in relief, "The Order of Galat is not technically an Adversary"
"Come again?" said Constantine.
"They're demons, that's true, but they don't serve under hell. You see their of the Djin class of demons(2), meaning they are allowed to pick their side. And as of recent centuries they have chosen to serve under heaven"
"Are you sure"
"Yes, they despise humans but refrain from assaulting them out of curtisy. How did the last one look"
"Average height, Black longish Hair. His name was Bauer, I believe"
"Under the circumstances, I don't think they would mind some co-operation. I'll contact them and see what the situation is exactly."
Jason strapped on his sword apparatus to his wrist and put on a shirt, then put on a hooded brown trench coat, in its pocket he stuffed the key and his passport as he headed to the door, and he left the apartment not even bothering to lock the door behind him.
"Gentlemen, I have bad news." said Giles, "The elders of the Order have informed me that a man by the name of Jason Bauer was in their ranks, but he is now considered a rogue, seeing as he has failed to report. And instead of surrendering the key, has kept it to himself."
"Maybe he was delayed"
"Unlikely, they also said that after viewing the security tapes from the robbery, that he killed one of his comrades by deflecting a blast of energy from you, is it true?"
Cartaphilus went back to earlier in the day, when he was aiming at Bauer, who used the disk to deflect the pouring energy to take out Curgin, who was supposed to be an ally of Bauer.
"Yes, At the time it seemed like a mistake, but looking back It could have been deliberate."
The three took a few moments to ponder.
"We must prevent Bauer from leaving the city, by any means necessary." said Cartaphilus with great intensity "That's a bit stating the obvious." said Constantine as he stood up, "Feel like doing some Magic to find the rogue demon"
"If I wouldn't then I'd probably be hoping he'd show up on my doorstep, wouldn't I?"
(1) The legend is an actual legend from Christian folklore, and shares esemblance to the story of Caine and Abel.
(2) The Djin are the demons from Islamic lore, unlike the demons of Christianity they can be either followers of God or followers of Satan.