Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel or DC characters seen, mentioned or used.
There is a place in the cosmos that few beings have ever set foot in, be they Gods, Demons or very crafty Mortals.
A place where time means nothing and everything at once, a place where a being can hold a literal galaxy in their hand and walk right through a planet, where left and right are one in the same and opposite. It was neither holy nor unholy, but something else entirely, something in the middle that picked no sides and never allowed itself to be influenced by either.
The perfect home for a being whose power was nothing short of God-like and could lay ruin to half the cosmos with as much effort as it takes for John Constantine to take a leak.
"You still have a chance to turn back John." Jason Blood, the immortal human host for the Demon Etrigan, said as he and his companion and somewhat of a friend, John Constantine, walked upon a narrow path of energy that took them through what could at best be described as a forest of nebulas and planetoids "You know that the Spectre isn't exactly a fan of yours. Then again, just about everyone on both sides of the spectrum aren't."
"Believe me Jason, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important." Constantine said as he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his coat's pocket and retrieved one of the cancerous sticks of nicotine with his lips before he brought his empty hand up to the end conjured a small flame at the end to light it.
"Hmph, so you say." Jason remarked as they two passed the 'forest' and were now walking through a dark void with only a few balls of lights to illuminate the path before them "Are you going to tell me what it is, or will I have to find out when you speak to the Spectre?"
Constantine was silent for a moment as he stared ahead of them with an unreadable expression on his face before he took a deep drag of his cigarette and blew the smoke out through his nose before saying "Remember my tussle with Nergal out in Los Angeles?"
"I do..." Jason said with a confused frown "Has Nergal regained his mental faculties and has some sort of plan in motion to avenge his defeat?"
Constantine snorted at this as he briefly took his cigarette out from between his lips to blow out a ball of smoke and watched it drift away "No, ol' Nergy is as lively as a cabbage according to the Nightmare Nurse. She doesn't think he'll ever recover from what was done to him, and if he does, he'll never be the same. No real loss there if you ask me and just about any other person alive that's not a Demon."
Jason hummed at this as he saw ahead of them, a faint glowing light, with an unfathomable power emanating from it, they were close "So if not Nergal, then what?"
"The New God that left him in that sorry state" Constantine revealed as he gave Jason a side glance "He used an Infinity Stone on him. The Mind Stone."
Jason's eyes widened at this "The Mind Stone? Are you su-"
"And what's even better is now that twat has the Soul Stone. Granted I unintentionally had a hand in that, I'll admit it. I underestimated him and overestimated Nergal's power and my own devilish wit. You know how it is in this game, you win some and lose some." Constantine said with a helpless shrug while Jason Blood had come to a complete stop and was looking at Constantine with wide, horrified eyes.
"AND I'M ONLY NOW FINDING OUT?!" Jason yelled in shock.
"Inside voice Blood." Constantine said with an unimpressed look on his face "Don't need the ol' mighty and great Spectre we're a bunch of loud, obnoxious monkeys now, do we?"
Granted Constantine is certain the Spirit of Vengeance already has a low opinion of humans and sees them as just above actual animals in terms of intelligence, but he'd rather not have Jason annoy the all-powerful being before he even has a chance to enlist it's aide. Jason stared at Constantine with an incredulous expression on his face that was slowly contorting to sheer anger and annoyance before the centuries old Demonologist sighed and took a deep, steady breath.
"Constantine, do I need to remind you the gravity of someone possessing just ONE of those accursed stones? Let alone TWO?!" Jason asked.
"No, you don't." Constantine stated as he took another drag from his cigarette before the end of it was suddenly snuffed out by some unseen force and a heavy tension filled the air.
Both Jason and Constantine's backs straightened at the raw power they could feel permeating through the air as the space before them began to shimmer and a massive figure took form. The two mystics had to crane their necks to look up as a twenty meter tall, pale white figure clad in a long green hooded cloak with equally green colored gloves. The Spectre's lower half remained shrouded in a dark green mist that seemed to also double as the Spectre's hooded cloak and billowed in an unseen breeze.
"John Constantine... Jason Blood..." the Spectre said as it turned it's shadowed head and looked down towards the mortal mages, or rather mortal mage and a immortal host of a Demon from Hell, it's eyes glowing with a power very few could ever hope to comprehend, let alone obtain.
"Spectre." Constantine replied with a frown, already dreading this conversation.
If there was anyone else in the cosmos he could go to for aid, he would, but very few had the power to contend with someone wielding two of the six Infinity Stones. The Spectre happened to be one of those few, or at the very least, the few that he could not only get into contact with but wasn't a colossal tosser that'll end upmaking things even worse than they already were.
The trick would be convincing 'The Avenging Wrath of God' to actually step in and do something before it was too late.
'While I'm at it, might as well go back in time and stop those two idiots from listening to a serpent of all things and take a bite of that dumb fruit.' Constantine thought with a grim snort of amusement as Jason gave the ethereal being a bow of respect.
"Spectre." the host of Etrigan said.
"Why are you here?" the Spectre demanded.
Constantine looked up at the Spectre with a scowl of annoyance as he blew a steady stream of smoke out through the corner of his mouth before reaching up to remove the cigarette from his lips "Much as it pains me to say it, but I've come to ask for your help Spectre."
"My help?" the Spectre asked, it's tone almost curious.
"There's a New God running around, one of Darkseid's bastards, some kind of Spider God or something, he has two of the Infinity Stones, Mind and Soul, and I think he's looking for the others." Constantine explained as he twirled his cigarette in-between his fingers before bringing it up to take another drag from it "And I don't think I need to tell you why that's a bad thing. So how about you mosey back on over to the 'Mortal Plane' and fix that, yeah?"
"Really, that's your sales pitch to enlist the aide of the Spectre?" Jason asked dryly, causing Constantine to glance back at him with a scowl.
"Like you could've done better!"
The Spectre was silent for a few moments as it stared down at the pair before it finally spoke in a voice and tone that could've frozen fire "No."
Constantine and Jason both blinked at this before they turned to look up at the Spectre with looks of surprise.
"The bloody fuck you mean no?!" Constantine demanded with outrage while Jason simply sighed and pinched the ridge of his nose "Did you not hear what I said? A bastard of Darkseid already has TWO of the Infinity Stones and he's looking to collect the other four! Your all about bringing the friggin wrath of God on people, right? So bring that wrath down on this bastard!"
"I will not." the Spectre declared as he turned to leave "Begone from my presence John Constantine, Jason Blood. This distraction has run it's course in amusing me..."
"Amusing you?!" Constantine snapped as he marched towards the Spectre while Jason reached out to stop him.
"John, don-" he began before Constantine shrugged him off.
"Do you remember the last time someone tried to gain possession of those damned things? The entire Multiverse was torn apart!" Constantine stated "Entire universes reduced to literal ashes, Pantheons stripped of their Divinity and turned to Demons, Hundreds of Hells being turned into frozen wastelands and the very Source itself was nearly destroyed-"
"I was there John Constantine..." the Spectre said as it turned to glower at the mortal man with a barely restrained rage "Do not remind me of that which you can barely begin to comprehend the scope of. I will not act against this Bastard of Darkseid for he has done nothing to upset the balance of creation for he only has the weakest of the Stones and even then, his mastery of them is that of a novice at best. The Stones together are powerful and will make their wielder on to a God, but on their own they are nothing more but a few powerful, albeit harmless gems."
Constantine scoffed in disbelief at this "And what's to keep him from finding even more?"
"They are scattered across creation, split between the Dark and Light Multiverses while the Time Stone remains beyond either. This New God you fear, will never be able to collect them all, and if he should attempt to do so, he will perish as many have before him had. In the event he doesn't, he will be forced to be content with what he has if it means his survival." the Spectre revealed as his gaze seemed to bore into the two humans before it.
Constantine gritted his teeth in frustration "Are you taking a piss? No spawn of that rock faced twit will be content with one or two of those things! He's going to seek out all of them, be it for his own desire or his bastard father's and when he does, you, me and the whole bloody cosmos will be more fucked than a porn star after a right ol' group shag fest!"
"Are you finished John Constantine?" the Spectre asked in a tone so completely uninterested, that John himself even felt bored!
Constantine's eyes narrowed as he stared at the living embodiment of Devine Vengeance and growled "Yeah I'm done… and so will everyone else, you worthless twit."
The Spectre's expression darkened at this before it's eyes glowed and Jason and Constantine were suddenly enveloped in a bright light.
…
"Well... that could've gone better." Jason said dryly as the light that engulfed him and Constantine dimmed and the two found themselves back in the library of the House of Mystery "And look, the Spectre was even kind enough to return us to the House."
Constantine shook his head in frustration "I knew going to that stuck up sod was a long shot, but I didn't think it'd be a complete waste of time. Fuck me, I need a drink!"
"Like you needed an excuse before." Jason remarked as he watched Constantine walk over to a small counter stocked with half-drunk bottles of whiskey, scotch, and Lord knew what else.
"I knew that stuck-up twat could be ridiculous, but this? This is really taking the cake. Bloody hell, he's literally going to do jack shit!" Constantine snapped as he began to reach for bottles and examine them, some of them he removed the cap and sniffed the contents before he set them back down and searched for a new bottle to state his thirst "That damned ghost has been too long without a mortal host, he's lost perspective on just how stubborn and ambitious us mortals and lesser deities can be and he won't realize that until he's being fed his own damn cloak!"
"John, I think your overestimating this New God." Jason said as he folded his arms across his chest "Yes the Mind and Soul Stones will make him a force to be reckon with, but he's unlikely to be able to find the rest before he ends up killed in the attempt or some other higher power notices him and stops him. Hell, it might end up just being the Justice League that stops him. Diana is bound to notice her 'husband's' actions and put a stop to them before they come to fruition."
"The 'Justice League? Jason please, those idiots would be as helpful as a pair of boxing gloves filled with glass shards would be in a fight against Tyson." Constantine said with an eye roll "Besides, they might not be so willing to help out given that one of their own is currently shacking it up on Apokolips and they don't want to risk her health or some bullocks. Hell, they might all be under the Mind Stone's influence already!"
"Really?" Jason said with a quirked brow at Constantine's reasoning for not involving the League "While I have my own opinions on the League, it's members and how it operates, I think you aren't giving them enough credit John. While the Mind Stone is powerful yes, on it's own it'll never truly be as powerful as it would be when it's with the others. Once more I highly doubt their all under the Mind Stone's influence."
"And what makes you so sure?" Constantine asked with a scoff.
"Do you really think that this Apokoliptian New God would stop at just the League? Why not you as well considering you know he has more than one Stone." Jason pointed out "The fact you just went before the Spectre of all beings to try and enlist his aide is proof enough your not under the Stone's influence."
"Maybe he didn't see a reason to put, in his mind, a lowly mortal such as myself under his thumb." Constantine said with a furrowed brow.
Jason's eyes narrowed slightly at this "Considering you were able to manipulate him into killing five demons and beat a sixth to the point he was left in a vegetative state, I doubt that. If anything, he should've left you as mindless as Nergal was."
Constantine didn't offer an immediate counter to this, causing Jason's curiosity to rise even more, there was something that John wasn't telling him. Though that was no surprise really, John had a tendency to keep his cards so close to his chest they tended to be inside his chest cavity, right next to his heart. And even if Jason did try to press the man for more information, he'll likely lie or omit key details about whatever it is that's actually keeping Constantine from sucking up his pride and going to the League with this.
"Fuck it." Constantine suddenly said with a frustrated groan as he brushed a number of bottles off the countertop before bringing his hand up to and sliced his index finger open with a piece of glass.
Jason's eyes narrowed as he watched Constantine brush a few more bottles and old cups off before he began to scribble on the liquor stained surface.
"I take it you haven't been hit with a sudden urge to turn to street art for a living." Jason said as he watched Constantine draw a series of intricate runes and symbols on the counter with his blood, words and symbols that have been lost for centuries or forbidden from ever being spoken of again.
"If I wanted to be a talentless hack groveling on my knees for money, I'd turn to acting. No, I'm just simply calling in some favors..." Constantine said as he drew the outline of a pentagram before drawing a circle at the end of each point and draw a series of markings in each circle "Make some deals... and see if I can't force a few others to take action and slow this tosser down a bit. If we don't get ahead of this now Blood, we'll be well and truly fucked."
And not just them, but everything.
"Your playing a dangerous game here Constantine." Jason said.
"Tell me something I don't know." Constantine sighed as he finished his markings and stepped back and began to mutter a series of incantations, causing the bloodied symbols to glow and for a figure to begin slowly taking shape in the middle of the pentagram.
Jason's eyes narrowed as the figure's features began to solidify and recognition flashed through the centuries old man's mind.
'He can't be serious, HIM?' Jason thought with shock as Constantine stared at the being he contacted.
"John Constantine aaaaand Jason Blood? My, my, my... what do you two want with me? What kind of deal can we make today, hmm?"
...
"Your brooding again."
"I am not brooding."
"Yes, you are. Standing in a dark, oppressive realm, staring off into the distance with a scornful look, that's as brooding as it gets."
The Spectre made no sound of a reply as he continued his vigilance while a small pale figure, just a few inches shorter than the two humans that came before him only moments ago, stood beside him with a black umbrella. At first glance one would think the person, a young pale skinned, dark haired woman, was nothing more than that, a mere human. But the longer they were in her presence, the longer they stared at her, they would begin to feel as if they do know this person, as if they met them a long time ago and the memory was just out of reach, or perhaps they somehow dreamt of this woman and they were finally seeing her for the first time.
"Why are you here, Death?" the Spectre turned towards the short woman beside his massive visage "Have you come for me now?"
"Hmm..." Death tapped her chin playfully as she stared up at the Spectre with amusement "Nope! Your time is still a ways off. I just thought I'd come by and see what you're getting up to. I know Constantine and Blood were just here."
"Indeed." the Spectre said as he turned his gaze away from the woman and back to the vast expanse before him "Constantine wished for me to take action against a New God of Apokolips."
"Oooh, sounds exciting!" Death said as she clapped her hands together, or rather she clapped her free hand and four of her fingers together while her thumb kept the umbrella handle pinned to the palm holding it "Which one was it? Was it Kalibak? I hope not, he still has some time left."
"No, it was another of Darkseid's progeny. I did not hear a name, but their domain is that of spiders it seems." the Spectre said.
Death gasped a little dramatically at this before she giggled as she twirled her umbrella around "I know that one. I like him, he's much more tolerable compared to many of the others from that world. Though that 'spider-sense' of his is the biggest cheat ever made!"
"It seems he's obtained two Infinity Stones, the Mind and Soul." Spectre said, causing Death's giggles to stop and for her to look up at him with her eyes widening slightly.
"Seriously?" she asked.
The Spectre nodded.
"Ah shit..." Death muttered, a hint of dread entering her voice "I hoped I'd never have to hear about those damn things again..."
The Spectre said nothing as Death reached up to rub the side of her head with a frustrated sigh. The Spirit of Vengeance couldn't blame her for being... bothered, the Infinity Stones have only ever been a blight since their intended use was corrupted eons ago by the Fallen One and every time one or two of the Stones re-emerged, worlds burned and life itself was always put in danger. The Spectre as it is now had never encountered the Stones, to it's knowledge, but it has heard of the story of the Mad Titan and the Dark Lord of Apokolips raging war across the Multiverse over the one that was found, the Space Stone if it remembered correctly.
"So, what are you going to do?" Death said as she looked up towards the Spectre "I mean, one's bad enough, two's a nightmare waiting to happen. You gonna pop on over to the Mortal Plane and zap him into dust or something?"
"No." the Spectre shook his head "I will not. He's not the first being to have gain possession of the Stones, nor will he be the last. He will try to seek out the rest as others have in the past and perish. To take direct action against him will only serve to draw even more attention to the knowledge of the Stones existence. The greatest defense they have ever had was that very few ever knew they existed in the first place and the few who have uncovered them keep such knowledge to themselves out of fear of rivals fighting them for control of the rest."
"That's a helluva gamble your taking." Death frowned at the supernatural 'hero'.
"It is the only one I can take. Discovery of the Stones in of itself is not a crime. Having one or two does not invoke damnation." the Spectre stated.
"If you say so." Death sighed, already dreading what was to come, so much misery, so much lost, all because of a few shiny rocks that should've been destroyed eons ago.
She was told they had a purpose, but so far the only purpose she's seen those Stones ever achieve was destruction on a scale nothing short of a God could ever comprehend.
She supposed even Destiny could get things wrong from time to time.
Death sighed as she rested her umbrella on her shoulder and turned to leave with a wave "Well, I better go and let my siblings know that the stones are back in play. I know Dream won't like that someone is running around with the Mind Stone after what it did to him all those eons ago..."
The Spectre made no reply as he 'listened' to Death walk away before she was suddenly gone. The ancient entity turned to look back in the 'direction' the Endless departed for a moment, ruminating over her words before he returned to gazing out through the vast expanse of the realm-
"So this is where you've been since your last host passed on." a voice spoke up from behind the Spectre before it's owner came to stand next to the immortal being "I'm surprised to see your still here, I would've thought you'd find a new one by now."
The Spectre glanced at his guest, a being as tall as him and every bit as powerful, though in differing ways. No one, not even the Spectre knows his true name or his past, though the once Fallen Angel can hazard a guess as to who or what this... Phantom Stranger, once was.
"I have no need for a mortal host." the Spectre declared with a slight shrug as it turned it's gaze back to the expanse before it "Once, perhaps, they offered a unique insight, but no longer. To bind myself to one ever again would only hinder my purpose."
"If that is what you believe, than who am I to try and dissuade you?" the Phantom Stranger said as he reached up to adjust his fedora "But consider this, by looking down on the Mortals and Lesser Gods, you might not notice the growing threats among them, waiting patiently until your gaze is diverted, before striking."
"I will not be felled easily Stranger, you of all beings know this." the Spectre said in a ominous tone.
"I never said you would fall easily." the Stranger stated with a brief side glance aimed at the Spectre "But should you, it'll be very hard for you to get back up again."
"Why are you here?" the Spectre demanded, growing weary of all these visitors.
"The New God from Apokolips, Darkseid's bastard. He's gained possession of several of the Infinity Stones." the Phantom Stranger revealed as he gazed out into the vast cosmic expanse before him and the Spectre "No one since the Mad Titan has ever dared such a thing. Even Darkseid's owner father was only ever to find and possess one of them before his imprisonment-"
"As I told John Constantine and Jason Blood, should this New God attempt to seek out the rest, he will perish like his forefather had or realize the folly of trying to gather the rest and stop. That was why they were separated in such a way, if the obstacles before them won't kill any seeker, they sheer scope of such an undertaking will deter them." the Spectre explained.
"First time for anything Spectre." the Phantom Stranger said "The problem with relying on something like the Stone's distance and the threats surrounding them for so long, you forget what to do or what to turn to as an alternative when all of that fails you."
The Spectre's response to this, was silence.
...
And done.
Next chapter, Fracture…
answers to reviewers' questions or statements:
Davies96: He can't fly, at least on his own. Ultraman would've been able to kill him easily because then and even now, Peter has no idea what he can and can't do. Had Ultraman not been so lost in his own hubris, he would've been able to deal with Peter before Diana ever showed up. After all, he still has quite a few things that Peter doesn't, like flight and super speed and the experience and knowledge to utilize those advantages to their fullest extent. And Ultraman's strength is the same as Superman's, who has in the past been able to kill even 'Gods' such as Kalibak in the Injustice Universe or Doomsday whose physically stronger and more durable than Supes in most other universes.
Zhorvak: Superwoman will not be a Fury.
Broken Requiem: Yes and no, we shall see soon.
badiullahmeri10: I mean, compared to Batman he's not terrible, in fact I'd say he was one of the better put together heroes when it comes to relationships, but compared to others...yikes.
Mr E: The Stones are not limited to one reality like in the Marvel Universe.
Guest: We'll see what Peter has been up to soon. Diana won't end up like Zarda.
Batros940: Yeah, he used to have a whole gaggle of them, until he started taking L's from the League.
cabrera1234: Who said the axe was evil?
GhostNova1: Donna and Dick's relationship will come to a head soon. True Donna is an adult, and the second Wonder Woman to boot, but Diana still sees her as her baby sister and is in her own way trying to keep her safe, even if it means ruining a relationship she's in, to some extent.
edoabb: We shall see, and it'll be a bit more complicated then the axe simply being 'evil'.
Djberneman: He is yes.