"This has to be a godamn joke!" Jason seethed. "This can't be right... who in their right mind lets this fucking idiocy happen?!" He growled in rage, as he punched a hole in the cement wall of the deserted subway.
Constantine, Jason, and Damian had gone searching for the new Champion of Magic, which lead them to Fawcett City and in front of a homeless 9-years-old boy.
"This is truly appalling even in The Shadows, which trains children from birth, they do not place an unprepared child in such strenuous position," even Damian was stunned.
"Let me just assure you this is not common practice and I'll have a serious conversation with the wizard once I finally locate him," John sighed, starting to get worried about the future of the Magic World.
The Champion is not a shiny position in which someone gains flashy powers and gets to kick the butt of those trying to steal their power. If anything that is just a consequence of the position, not its duty. Its job is to be the judge, jury, and executioner of the magical community. The Minister of Magic in other words. For that, they need to learn not only about magic but politics as well. They also are the ones keeping the world's magical core in equilibrium, otherwise, it'll affect the rest of the magical users' abilities.
"he is dead..." Billy Batson (Which will never stop being hilarious to Bruce Wayne's, aka Batman, sons) sniffled. "Black Adam killed him!"
"Bloody Mary..." John cursed, facepalming. "Of all the enemies of the wizard, it had to be him."
"Who is he?" Damian asked tensely.
"Black Adam is an ancient Egyptian named Teth-Adam, who is chosen by the wizard Shazam to be his successor due to his presumed moral purity. However, Teth-Adam is soon corrupted by the vastness of his powers. He ended up deciding that he should rule the world, so Teth-Adam overthrows and kills the pharaoh and assumes the Egyptian throne. Angered by this betrayal, the wizard changes the name of his errant champion to Black Adam. Although he is unable to revoke the powers he gave Adam, he managed to banish him to the most distant star in the universe." John explained, making them all wince. "It is a cautionary tale for anyone trying to claim the position as Champion of Magic. Make sure you are good or the wizard will banish you. Luckily, you won't have that issue in your hands."
"No, but I do have a murderous, no idea how old, all-powerful crazy ex-champion on my trail!" Billy screeched, starting to hyperventilate.
"Good job warlock," Jason spat, before going to calm the boy down. He had always had a soft spot for kids, especially homeless ones.
"But this might be good for us..." John murmured, ignoring Jason.
"How the fuck?!" Jason cursed, his eyes shining with Pit's Madness. "We are fucking screwed!"
"We need power! And no way in bloody hell I am dragging a kid into a fight against a demon of the Lazarus Pit caliber! Let alone any demon!" John shouted. "I might be a piece of human shit, but even I don't cross that line!"
"The Dark Warlock does not allow kids to fight. Give him a fucking award, he does something even the Justice League had been incapable of getting right." Jason's tone was dripping with sarcasm, but his eyes were shining with unsaid respect.
"We need power," John repeated, throwing Jason an annoyed glare. "What's more powerful than the power and immortality of someone as old as dirt as Dark Adam?"
"Can we do that?" Billy asked, eyes shining with hope. He was way over his head with all of this. But even he knows that he'll be incapable of defeating an enemy that brought down the wizard, with cero training and field experience. Billy was also against the idea of killing, so this plan has his support... for now.
"You are The Champion of Magic, judge, jury, and executioner. If magic itself finds him guilty of the most atrocious crime of tainting the equilibrium of magic to the point of no return, you can sentence them to lose their magic and immortality." Constantine explained. "For that to happen is not easy, your magic needs to reach an inhuman level and one would need to spend years, as in Millenium, disrupting that equilibrium. Not to mention, you'll need a place to put all that power."
"What about my sword?" Damian inquired. "My grandfather told me a story when I was a kid... which with what you've told me about the pits, it might not be a simple story. From the depths of the deepest Pit of Lazarus the sacred sword rose, a sword only those with al Ghul blood can wield. A greedy sword, it is in its nature. A sword that can cut through anything, even a soul. A sword that..."
"Will devour all," Constantine finished in horror. "The Sword of Avarice. Mammon's Sword."
"For fuck's sake, please tell me Mammon is not the one we will be fighting," Jason pleaded in an almost whining tone.
"No, but whoever this demon is, they stole from Mammon," John replied.
"Will killing them endear us to Mammon?" Damian inquired, already various plans going through his head. "Having a Prince of Hell indebted to us might serve us in the future."
"You truly are an al Ghul," Jason shook his head in disbelief. "Who in their right mind wants to be allied with a Prince of Hell?"
"TT, somebody smart," Damian tched.
"Why should we satisfy ourselves with only Black Adam?" Jason suddenly commented, gaining three interested stares. "From what I've understood the sword will store any kind and sum of power, like a black hole. More people fit the requirements the warlock mentioned: Cirse, The Enchantress, Morgana, and the whole Savage family, to name some. Why not bring them all down in one swipe?"
"How did you know about them?" Billy inquired curiously, still new to this whole... superheroine? magical? scene.
"I used to work with Batman..." the confession was hard on Jason, green eyes shining slightly. "He has a whole file for magic."
"So cool!" Billy gasped.
"I believe Todd... Jason had a competent idea." Damian changed the direction of the conversation as he noticed Jason was starting to lose control. "Will it have any adverse effect on me?"
"The price for that kind of power was paid in blood-line. Your grandfather's and mother's sanity, yours is diluted enough not to affect you in any deteriorating way but close enough to be able to use the sword." John explained, before turning to Billy. "What do you say Champion? Will you help us?"
"If the magical core accepts this solution... who am I to refuse?" Billy answered, "Though..." he fidgeted. "I do not know how to do it."
"Ah," John sighed. "The wizard is bloody lucky he is dead. Otherwise, I would have ended him myself for this." Constantine then opened a portal to the House of Mysteries and transported the four of them there. "You two rest or get prepared for the fight do as you wish," John told the sons of Batman, before turning to Billy. "You follow me, we have a lot to discuss."
Damian watched both magical users leave, before turning towards his... brother? He looked as uncomfortable as Damian felt. Being on the run for their lives worked wonders to ignore the complicated family drama the both of them were stuck in.
"Do you want to get our weapons ready?" Damian asked Jason, who nodded silently in response and followed him to the room John had given them.
"Aren't you worried about the demon claiming your soul along with your family?" Jason asked bluntly as they entered the room, eternally grateful John had purged the demon's hold on his soul.
"I should be around a decade younger," Damian answered, as he took the bags with the weapons he had stolen, borrowed from the league. "Mother used CADMUS technology to artificially accelerate my growth and put fake memories in my mind. I've only been awake for a few months. I've never died or been in the pit... no matter what I remember."
"For fuck's sake!" Jason cursed. "And I thought I had shity parents... I do, but you win the lottery."
"Mm," Damian hummed, taking out a pair of knives and observing their razor. "I found out while looking over mother's server for intel about magical users with expertise in dark magic and demonic entities."
Jason shook his head when Damian offered him the knives: "Blades are your thing, do you have guns in there?"
"I thought father did not approve of guns?" Damian inquired, putting the knives away.
"Well, Bat isn't here, is he?" Jason gave him a blood-thirsty smile.
"He is not," Damian shrugged, taking out two guns and annumition.
"Just like that?" Jason asked warily, having expected a bigger fight.
"Just like that... we are family after all," Damian told him, both of them looking uncomfortable again at the reminder.
However, Jason took the guns and smiled slightly. Damian smiled back and went back to going through the bag. It was far from perfect, but it was a start.