(Just a quick reminder, this is a repost of an older story, not a rewrite.)
On this side or the other
Observe constantly that all things take place by change,
and accustom thyself to consider that the nature of the Universe
loves nothing so much as to change the things which are,
and to make new things like them.
- Marcus Aurelius -
London
It wasn't the best part of town by any stretch of the imagination, but she expected that. It was a dive bar, which was also a given considering who she was looking for. The old sign could barely be made out, but she knew the name already, The Hoof and Nail. A bit of irony in that she thought, given why she was here. Zatanna turned up the collar on her black coat and stepped inside. She immediately drew more attention then she wanted, especially from the sort of patrons that this kind of place catered to. It only took a moment, but then she saw the person she was here to see. Constantine.
He was sitting alone at one of the back tables. There was a small, dimly candle in an old glass in front of him. He was nursing a drink and smoking a cigarette. He looked up and smiled as she made her way over to his table.
"Can't resist me, can you, darling?'
"Actually I can,' she replied. "It's really kind of easy now that you mention it."
"Ouch,' he said with a mocking frown. "Well, obviously this isn't a social call, but I guess you might as well sit down anyway."
She did. An ancient bartender hobbled over to the table and Constantine ordered two drinks.
"I didn't want anything,' Zatanna said.
"Then just the two drinks, my good man.' Constantine replied. The bartender hobbled away. Constantine finished what remained in his glass and lit up another cigarette. He looked at Zatanna for a moment as if checking her out.
"Are you through?" She asked.
"You look better every time I see you, darling."
"Thanks, but as you said this isn't a social call,' she replied.
"Mores the pity."
"I need information, Constantine."
"About what?"
"Hell."
The cigarette stopped inches from his lips as his eyes focused intensely on her. It was only for a moment than his usual relaxed demeanor came back.
"Nasty place," he said. "I wouldn't recommend it for a holiday."
"I need to get someone out.'
"That's not so easy to do, love," he replied. "Getting in, sure, no problem, but out they don't like too much down there."
"I don't care,' she stated. "We need to get him out."
"Who is he?" Constantine asked.
"Superman.'
Again his cigarette stopped in midair. The surprise was plain on his face.
"I didn't even know he was dead? You'd think something like that would be on the tube or in the papers."
"He's not,' she replied.
"Oh, than someone's testing him.' Constantine said with a nod of understanding.
"Why do you say that?" Zatanna asked.
"Cause if he's not dead, then it isn't about punishment, so that leaves he's being tested,' Constantine explained. "Take some serious Mojo to pull that off, believe me."
"What if he was outside of time when it happened?" She asked.
"That would make it easier," he admitted. "If you're outside of time, all rules go out the window. Still take some serious power to pull it off though."
"So how to we get to hell and rescue him? She asked.
"Short answer is you don't."
"What's the long answer?" She replied.
"The same, but it comes with an explanation."
"Okay, let's hear it."
"Not without a drink, darling," he said with smile. "It's thirsty work explaining the mysteries of the universe. Expensive too."
Zatanna reached into her coat and pulled out a wad of cash and laid it on the table.
"There's a thousand dollars, start explaining."
The old bartender came back with the drinks and set them on the table. He stood waiting to get paid. Zatanna noticed Constantine had already pocketed the money she put on the table and was looking at her expectantly. With a roll of her eyes and a sigh, she reached into her pocket and pulled out another bill. She handed it to the bartender.
"Keep it,' she said.
The old man nodded and smiled at her.
"Thank you. Always nice to see a bit of class in this old place, miss."
He gave Constantine a scowl before leaving the table and heading back to the bar.
"Old twat,' Constantine grumbled as he watched the bartender go.
"I was thinking the same thing about you,' Zatanna commented. This earned her nasty look from Constantine.
"Aren't you a ray of sunshine today."
"Look, you took my money so start explaining,' she replied. "Why can't we rescue him from Hell?"
Constantine took a long drink from one of the glasses and leaned forward. The small candle on the table cast shadows over his features. His eyes stared intently into the flames for a moment.
"Constantine?"
"The devil or Satan has many names, Zatanna, but the important one here is the Prince of Lies,' Constantine began. "His greatest lie is Hell. It doesn't really exist, it's all an illusion."
"Look, I know illusions and Hell doesn't seem like one,' she commented.
"That's why it's so good."
'Weren't you in hell, John? If it's an illusion than how is that possible?"
"Because I believed." He simply said.
"You? You don't believe in anything except yourself,' she fired back.
"I guess you do know me pretty good, Zee,' he said with a smirk. "But I used to believe when I was young. All that C of E rubbish leaves it's mark even if you don't realize it."
Zatanna leaned forward and rubbed the sides of her head, trying to figure out what he was talking about.
"How does this help us rescue Superman? And if it's all an illusion how is he there?"
"He's a believer,' Constantine replied. 'Hell is a human construct, Zatanna, just like Heaven, by the way. They are all tied up with faith and belief. If you don't have faith or don't believe than there is no Heaven or Hell for you. This is all there is."
"I've seen Hell, Constantine, so have you,' Zatanna countered. "I know people that have gone there. How can you say it doesn't exist?"
"Religion, Zee, it all starts there,' he explained. "Whatever faith you follow, they all stress how important it is to get you when you're young. That shapes how you see the world in so many ways you don't even realize. The Mayans literally believed that if they didn't rip the still beating heart out of someone the sun wouldn't come up the next day. Catholics believe that if you get Last Rites and confess your sins everything is wiped clean; Muslims believe they get 72 virgins in Paradise when they die and on and on. By the way, virgins are really overrated if you want to know the truth. Given me a couple of gals with some experience any day."
"Don't be disgusting,' she complained.
"If you think a little experience is disgusting, you have a lot to learn,' Constantine joked. The expression on Zatanna's face said she was not amused.
"You were saying,' she said, her voice rather brittle.
"Right, okay, let me just say I haven't worked it all out yet, but this is what I'm starting to understand,' he replied. "Heaven, Hell, the Gods, they are all constructs of us humans."
"No, you're wrong there,' Zatanna said with a shake of her head. "I've met some of them. Wonder Woman's Gods are real."
"Well, anyone who looks like her could probably make a lot of things possible,' He said with a smirk. She gave him another look and he moved on. "They are real because she believes they are and by extension you believe it too. When was the last time Baal or Mithra popped in for a visit, huh? No one believes in them anymore so they faded away. Gods die just like everyone else, Zatanna."
"This isn't getting us any closer to saving Superman, Constantine." Zatanna replied. "Hell's real and he's stuck there."
"Because he believes, Zatanna, that's what I'm trying to tell you,' Constantine stated. "All of it stems from the same thing in all of us, the fear of dying. From the earliest cavemen right up to now, people are afraid of dying. They desperately want to believe there's something more. They want to believe life is fair. That evil is punished and good is rewarded. Find the poorest, most miserable wretch you can and he'll have more faith than most. He wants to believe all the suffering, all the misery; all the sadness he's endured meant something in the end. What's that classic line? Your reward isn't in this life; it's in the next. That's a life insurance policy that never pays off, at least not for the holder."
"Putting aside the metaphysics,' Zatanna began. "Even if it's an illusion, it's a shared illusion. That means we should be able to go and rescue him."
"I've been trying to tell you, it ain't that easy,' Constantine replied. "Yes, for someone like your friend Wonder Woman it would be easier. Her people believe in a very specific Hell, Tartarus. For the rest of us Hell is different depending on the individual. While Dante and Gutenberg gave us a standardized version of hell to work off of, we each see it in our own specific way. What local religious figure you grew up with has a lot to do with determining how you see Heaven and Hell. Some see a lake of fire, others eternal torment, while my own brand of it would be closer to something out of a really hot, Road Warrior type landscape."
"I'm beginning to think mine would be I'm trapped in a place like this with you,' Zatanna replied. "So we see the details of Hell in different ways, so what? It's still Hell."
"The Devil's in the details, love,' Constantine offered. 'You could be walking right next to him and you would see something completely different than he would. You would experience something completely different than he would.'
Zatanna sat back for a moment, clearly frustrated by his explanation.
"I think that's all bullshit, Constantine,' she finally said. "You're a cynic to your core, so of course you'd think Heaven and Hell are an illusion. Like you said you have to believe in something and you don't."
"That's a fair statement," he replied. "But ask anyone to describe Heaven and Hell for you, Zee. Most will go on and on about Hell and how horrible it is, but when they get around to describing Heaven they become a little vague. Sure, they'll mention clouds, angels, pearly gates, many mansions, but none of the details they talk about with Hell. You know why that is?"
"No, but I'm sure you're going to tell me."
"We mere mortals like to see others suffer,' he explained. "We relish the idea of the sinners burning in agony, as we watch from paradise. Check it out that was one of the big selling points in early Christian doctrine. All the good boys and girls got to watch the endless suffering of the bad people. It was one of the perks of Heaven."
'You're making that up,' she said.
"Sorry, love, almost wish I was,' he said with a shake of his head. "Your eternal reward included you and the virgins watching someone else get ripped to pieces over and over and over. There's your paradise for you."
Zatanna could see he was serious and his words shook her a little bit. She felt she had to argue against what he was saying, as the alternative seemed to shattering to most worldviews.
"That isn't being preached anywhere today,' she offered.
"Oh really?" He said with a smirk. "Have you read the 'Left Behind' books? All us poor sinners get to hang around when the shit hits the fan, while the chosen get whisked away to their reward. It's not just one religion; it's all of them. It's always either you're part of the group or you suffer. The in-crowd versus all the other poor bastards."
"How is this getting us any closer to getting Superman out, Constantine?' She asked in exasperation.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you, love, I don't think you can."
The Watchtower
The revelation that her father was Zeus and Hippolyta was actually her biological mother had Diana reeling. Everything she'd believed, everything she had to learn to accept about her origins was gone. Suddenly she wasn't so different from everyone else.
"Why? Why didn't you ever tell me the truth, mother?" She asked.
"I didn't tell you to protect you,' Hippolyta explained. "Aphrodite warned me if you knew it would be dangerous. Hera or Zeus himself would have felt the need to do something if the truth came out. I couldn't risk losing you, Diana. You are too precious to me to take that chance."
"Why tell me now?"
"Because the time for lies is over,' Hippolyta replied.
Artemis and General Phillipus stood silently watching. Both were still staggered from Hippolyta's confession. It all seemed too fantastic, too incredible to believe.
"Yet, you lied to me, to everyone about all this,' Diana said. "You manipulated me and became Wonder Woman, when you knew I would never want you to make that sacrifice, Mother. Why?"
Hippolyta sat down heavily on the couch. Memories of a lifetime ago, yet so fresh in her mind came rushing back.
"When you were born, to save you I had to give you up,' Hippolyta said softly. "It was to my younger self, but the pain was so real. It was as if my heart was being ripped from my chest to have to let you go, but I did it to save your life. When the dreams and omens started it was as if it were all happening again. I couldn't bare the thought of losing you, not again. You would never agree to step aside, so I had to make you. It was my sacrifice to make and I gladly did it."
"I never wanted that, mother,' Diana softly replied.
"I know."
"So was it all a lie?" Diana asked. "Your affair with Kal, everything?"
"No."
"Again, why, mother?"
Hippolyta seemed to hesitate for a moment. Artemis and Phillipus felt uneasy and began to move towards the door. Hippolyta stopped them.
"No, you should hear this as well,' she said. She fumbled with her hands for a moment, as if the words were too difficult to voice, then slowly Hippolyta began. "I was not always as you see me now. I was just a woman once, long ago. I wanted and dreamed of the same things most women do, love, a home, a family, happiness, but those were brutal times and I never got a chance at any of them. When the Gods brought us back it was as if the world had begun anew. It was so long ago and so few of the original Amazons remain now. Phillipus, do you remember what it was like at first?"
"Yes, Hippolyta,' The General replied. Her eyes seemed to look off into the distance as if a remote memory had just returned. "I remember the joy was beyond imagining."
"Yes, I do as well,' Hippolyta said. "It seemed everything had changed about the world. It's why we welcomed Heracles and his men with open arms. Then we learned that things hadn't really changed at all."
The two older women shared a look of understanding, as that horrible nightmare came back to them.
"The unspeakable betrayal, the degradation, the humiliation were burned into our memories for all times,' Hippolyta continued. "I blamed myself for it and vowed never again. We would be warriors and turn away from the world of Men. The rage burned within all of us, I think me most of all. I was the Queen, I should have protected my sisters, but I couldn't or didn't see the threat. Never again, I vowed, never again."
The room went silent. Hippolyta struggled to control her emotions, as the horrors vividly replayed in her mind.
"Mother?"
Hippolyta looked at each woman, then nodded and continued.
"As the years went by we grew stronger in our isolation,' Hippolyta continued. "Perhaps we grew too fond of our isolation. Let the outside world destroy itself, we were not part of it anymore. Then two things changed."
"What?" Artemis couldn't help asking. Diana and Phillipus gave her a look. "I was curious."
Hippolyta smiled.
"The first was Diana,' she said. "All those years I was a warrior Queen, but part of me was still the woman that had those simple dreams so long ago. I can't describe to you the joy I felt when I looked at you for the first time, Diana. I was a mother and suddenly all my priorities changed."
"And the second?" Phillipus asked.
"The Bana coming to our island,' Hippolyta replied. "Warriors, but they had different experiences than the Amazons had. They had continued to live in the world, while we turned away, yet they survived and thrived. It brought home that we weren't the only women that had ever suffered. We speak of the Amazon way, yet all those years we cut ourselves off not just from men but the women of the world too."
"I thought she looked at us as an annoyance,' Artemis whispered to Phillipus.
"Some more than others apparently,' Phillipus replied.
"Did you just insult me?"
"Let's listen to what the Hippolyta has to say,' Phillipus offered. Artemis gave her a scowl, but turned her attention back to Hippolyta.
"I was against you going out to the world, Diana, because I'm your mother and I didn't want anything harm to come to you,' Hippolyta explained. "But we know how well I did trying to stop you, don't we?"
Mother and daughter shared a smile.
"With each trip you made back to the island, I could see in your face and in your words that you believed things had changed in the outside world. You didn't see all men as evil and believe there were some good ones. You even teamed up with some of them.' Hippolyta continued. "Change is hard once you're set in your ways, but I knew change was coming to Themyscira. It is why I asked the Bana to join the Senate and started the small opening up of our island to the outside world. As I traveled to the outside world, I understood its pull on you, my daughter. The world seemed to rush forward so fast, with so many changes. Women had different roles now, yet those old prejudices were still there. Always some will wish to turn back the tide and undo progress. I saw that you gave your voice to the cause of the outside world women and fought for them. I was very proud of you, but it made me question myself."
Hippolyta took a sip of water before continuing.
"Then the omens and dreams started. I had lived so long, yet suddenly the prospect of my death became very real to me. I had done so much in my life, but I kept returning to those dreams of who I once was. I had a home, a family, and love in my life and I was truly blessed. I had lived many of my dreams, yet the horrors still remained. I found that I didn't want my memories tainted by what a few men had done. I wanted one good memory of how it should be between a man and a woman. That thought seemed to roll around in my head as I made my final decision to take your place. The night of the party I saw Superman. From everything you've told us about him, he seemed like a good and decent man. Whether if was my intention from the start to sleep with him, I'm still not sure, but I did. You were right; he is a good and decent man, Diana. He didn't force himself on me and took only what I was willing to give. I thought if I was going to die tomorrow at least I had one good memory of men before I went."
"Yet you continued your affair once you came out to this world."
'I never planned it,' Hippolyta said with a sad smile. "I found myself alone in this huge crowd waiting for death, but not relishing it. I needed a friend and he was the only one I really knew out here. It wasn't love if that's what you're thinking. I was alone and faced with my own demise. I didn't want to just meekly surrender to it, I wanted to fight and embrace my last days. Wanted to feel desire, passion and the touch of another. If I was going to make this sacrifice than it would be while I lived to the last moment."
Diana stood listening to her mother and understood what she was saying. Still it felt like a betrayal on Kal's part. He was her friend and Hippolyta was her mother. That wasn't a line you were supposed to cross if you were truly a friend.
"Understand, Mother, I do, but he still shouldn't have,' Diana finally said. "The world may have changed, but some things haven't. A friend doesn't do what he did with another friend's mother."
Hippolyta smiled warmly at her daughter and then got up and took her hands in hers.
"I apologize for my part in hurting you, Diana,' she said. 'It wasn't my intention. As for Clark, many things have changed as you said, but one thing never will. When a beautiful woman wants a man, she usually gets him. For all his powers, Clark is just a man when you get right down to it."
"That doesn't help,' Diana admitted. "I still feel like he betrayed me."
"I was a willing partner, so the betrayal is mine to share,' Hippolyta replied. "None of us are perfect, but hopefully we learn from our mistakes. I ask your forgiveness, Diana."
The two women looked at each other and the love between them was apparent. No words were needed at this point and they hugged each other.
Hell
It was all out war. Mimes and Clowns were locked in mortal combat. Clark stumbled across the battlefield trying to wipe the cream pie from his eyes and understand what the heck was going on.
"Look out! They're launching the invisible boxes again! They already got Chuckles, Jellybean and Peanut!" A clown rushing by him shouted. Clark managed to clear his eyes and look up, but saw nothing. He took a step forward and bumped into a wall. His hands came up and he could feel a barrier. He moved along it and then found a corner and then another and another. A box? He was trapped in a box?
"Medic!" Another clown shouted. "Man down!"
A siren could be heard getting closer. A small car came racing around he battlefield, weaving in and out. It skidded to a stop just next to Clark and then the doors opened. Clowns in white smocks with big red crosses on them began to tumble out. They stumbled and fell over each other. A pie suddenly hit the clown making the siren sound and the siren stopped.
"Stand back citizen, this flower is filled with acid!" One of the clowns shouted and Clark jumped back. The clowns began laughing. "Just kidding pal, it's really seltzer, but the look on your face was priceless!"
Seltzer was sprayed over the invisible walls and Clark was free. He was immediately hit with pies, as the clowns climbed by into the small car and sped away.
"Cover! Everyone take cover, they're walking against the wind again!"
Clark was pushed into a foxhole and had twenty or so clowns fall on top of him. He managed to extricate himself and looked over the edge. In the distance he could see the mimes moved towards them. Walking against the wind, pulling on an invisible rope, they kept getting closer.
"It's quiet, too quiet,' one of the clowns said.
"Well, they are mimes, remember?"
"It's that kind of logical thinking that got us in this mess,' a clown snapped. "You're demoted in rank, soldier!"
"I don't have a rank,' the clown replied.
"Do you want one?"
"What the hell is going on?" Clark finally screamed.
"Oh, great, he's got shell shock, hit him with a couple of pies."
"No, wait!"
It was too late; Clark was bombarded with cream pies again. He wiped his eyes again.
"Can you just tell me what's going on?" He asked.
"Its war, son!" The lead clown answered.
"Between the clowns and the mimes? Are you both kind of the same?"
A collective gasp when through the foxhole.
"Clowns and Mimes the same, what world are you from stranger?"
'Um, not this one,' Clark replied.
"Obviously,' the lead clown said with a chuckle. "We're nothing alike. People find clowns creepy, but mimes they just find annoying. It's apples and rhubarb really, no comparison."
"They both make good pies,' Clark offered.
"Pies!"
"No, not again!"
Clark was bombarded with pies from all sides.
"It's quiet, too quiet.' Another clown said.
"We did that routine already."
"Oh, right, sorry."
"Why are you fighting?" Clark shouted, as he tried to clean himself off.
"No reason to get surly, stranger,' the lead clown said. "Come on, turn that frown upside down."
"I'm not feeling very happy right now,' Clark admitted.
"What are you an anarchist or something? Not happy? Do you need another pie in the face to get your thinking straight, cause that always does it for me."
"No!" Clark quickly shouted. "No more pies, please!"
"Seltzer it is."
"Wait!"
The small foxhole was suddenly drenched in seltzer, as the clowns sprayed Clark and each other. One even stuck a bottle down Clark's pants and sprayed.
"Now that was refreshing, good call, stranger,' the lead clown said.
"Please, I'm not from around here, could you just tell me what you're fighting about?" Clark begged.
"It's all about freedom, stranger."
"Really?"
"No, just bullshitting ya,' the lead clown said with a chuckle. "You really are a rube, aren't you? Ho-Ho, he-he!"
"Maybe I should just asked the Mimes,' Clark ventured.
"Good luck with that,' the lead clown said with a snort. "Those douches don't even talk! It's part of their 'art', supposedly, but it's really just annoying."
"Thought invisible boxes are no joke,' another clown pointed out.
"Tell me about it,' the lead clown replied. "What kind of sick, warped mind thinks that's funny? I mean sure the rope gag has some merit, but being trapped in a box? What is everyone Cool Hand Luke all of a sudden? It's just creepy and pretentious and I for one don't like it. If you're going to scare the shit out of little kids do it under the big top like God intended not out on the street, for crying out loud!"
"Here! Here! And there!" Shouted the other clowns.
"So this is all about them being pretentious?" Clark asked.
"No, of course not,' the lead clown replied. "It's about our flag, damn it!"
He pulled out a white flag with no design on it and proudly waved it back and forth.
"Are you surrendering?" Clark asked.
'What are you a spy? The lead clown asked, poking Clark in the chest. "Cause you sure sound like one! Surrender? That's Mime talk, buster!"
"But a white flag means surrender," Clark offered.
"Says who?"
"Everyone knows that."
"I don't, do you Sparkle?" The lead clown asked.
"No, that's crazy talk if you ask me,' Sparkle replied.
"See, not everyone thinks a white flag means surrender,' the lead clown said. "I suppose you think the Mime's flag is better, don't you?'"
"I don't even know what their flag is?" Clark replied.
"It's a white flag with the word "Flag' written on it,' the lead clown explained. "Like I said, pretentious bunch of douches if I ever saw them!"
"So you're fighting over a flag?"
"Who told you that?" The lead Clown pointedly asked. "Are you sure you're not a spy?"
"Um, you told me,' Clark replied.
"I told you? What is this some fancy reverse physiology or something, stranger? I never said anything of the kind."
"Yes, you did!"
"Did not."
"Did!"
"Did not."
"Did!"
"Did not, that's not what I said at all,' the lead clown stated.
"You did!"
"Did not."
"You did!"
"Did not."
Clark was getting frustrated.
"All right, if you didn't say it what did you say?"
"Seltzer!"
Again the entire foxhole was awash in seltzer.
"Oh, that was rich, Ha-Ha, Ho-Ho, He-He, next time let's do the confetti in the bucket gag!"
"I think you're all insane,' Clark muttered, trying to wipe the seltzer out of his eyes.
"Are you questioning our patriotism, stranger? We fight because our country is the greatest in the world just ask our fearless leaders! We're all proud citizens and we've been told that many-many times leading up to this war! Oh, sure some might say its false patriotism and pride, but we have false humility too! We're just humorous cogs in the machine! We can't change things so we turn our backs on the grime realities and let our fearless leaders manipulate us into whatever they want to do! That's the way it's always been and that's what we fight for! Come on, men let's show those Mimes some pointless and futile violence!"
With that the clowns were out of the foxhole and charging the enemy.
The Source Wall
Darkseid stood just far enough away so the gravity didn't pull him in. He had been staring at one figure for many hours now. Nothing had changed; her likeness was still right where it was before, yet everything had In the distance he could hear the battle raging all over Apokolips, but his focus was on her. He was missing something, some piece to all of this.
It all felt like a chess game and Darkseid had always considered himself a master chess player. Her moves were unorthodox and seemingly random, yet they continually kept him off balance. She was manipulating him, getting him to chase after her, but why he wondered? On the battlefield her every move had been successful. The Old Gods at her command were overwhelming his forces. It was just sheer numbers on his side that made it a fight. Yet he sensed this was just a diversion from her real plan. She cared nothing for his miserable planet, but by attack she kept him occupied. Why?
It seemed she had done the impossible, escaped the Source Wall and leapt through time to the present, yet there she was still in her stone tomb like all the rest. Could it all be an illusion he wondered? And what of the twin bolts of energy that had struck Earth? Were those just the triggers for her return or did they have more meaning? Questions upon questions rolled around in his brain, yet the key was here at the Source Wall he somehow knew. If she had truly returned there should be no trace of her here.
Then it struck Darkseid that she had been playing him from the start. The two vessels on Earth had allowed her to focus her consciousness enough to appear, but she wasn't actually real yet. To truly be alive again, she needed a vehicle, a bridge that would deliver her into this world. He was fighting a shadow. It was why his Omega beams were useless against her. It was why her army was so successful; they played on the primal fears of his people. The fear of the Old Gods returning ran deep on Apokolips and fed into her growing power. It helped her appear to have returned when it fact she was still in the process of making it happen.
Darkseid realized he'd been a fool and underestimated her. Apokolips was nothing, a diversion to get him away from Earth. Earth was where those two vessels still remained. They were the key to her real return. He had to smile at the sheer audacity of her plan. It had even taken him in for a time, but no more. He would find the two and destroy them and the Goddess in one fell swoop. He was still the master of this age.
The Watchtower
Mary and Mordred had been talking for several hours. Each was trying to make sense out of what happened to them. They started as strangers, but soon they felt they knew each other better than anyone else. They shared this same unique situation and only the other really seemed to understand. It was such a relief to finally feel like they weren't alone.
The klaxons suddenly went off and the loud speaker announced an intruder alert. Mary stood and turned towards the door, but a voice spoke from the shadows.
"They won't reach you in time."
Mary and Mordred both gasp as they turned to see the Golden Goddess in the room.
"You! What-what do you want?" Mary gasped.
"I want your help,' the Goddess said. "I chose the two of you for this purpose."
"You did this to us, 'Mordred said. "Why?"
"I felt the yearning in both of you,' she explained. "You both have such love in side of you, yet it is tinged by sadness. Loss, regret; yet hope is still there. You two understand what I want more than any others. I was trapped for all eternity, but I wanted to break out. I wanted to live and I think you two want that as well. Together you will make that possible."
She took a step towards them and Mordred was on his feet. He reached over and took Mary's hand.
"You will not use us as so many others have,' he said. "We will fight you!"
"The time for fighting is over," The Golden Goddess said. She stretched her hand towards them and the room began to glow. Mary and Mordred seemed frozen in their spots as she moved towards them. Her hand touched them and they felt it to their core. It was as if they were mingling not just her, but each other.
"The future is now,' she said and then the room exploded in white light.
Jonn and the others rushed to the medical bay. The computer had identified the location of the intruder and it was Mordred's room. They arrived just as the explosion happened. They were thrown off their feet, but quickly recovered and rushed inside. They found Mary and Mordred huddled together on the floor.
"What has happened here? Where is the intruder?' Jonn demanded.
"She's gone,' Mordred replied, never taking his eyes off Mary.
"'What have you done to my sister," Billy shouted.
"I've done nothing."
"Mary?"
"I'm pregnant,' she gasped. Mordred moved to the side and they all saw the truth of her words.
London
Zatanna and Constantine had gone round and round with their debate. She'd bought him several more drinks and even had one herself.
"So let me see if I have what you're saying right,' she began. "It's all an illusion. There really is no Heaven and Hell, it's just a human construct."
"Right, or that's what I think anyway."
"Okay, but if that's true, than how could someone be in Hell for eternity? Answer me that smart guy."
"It all depends on how you define eternity, love,' Constantine replied. "The eternity of the moment, does that phrase ring a bell? You hear all this stories of people near death seeing a white light and having their life flash before their eyes. They never speak of time when they do. When we die, that last moment is an eternity. We go to whichever construct we think we should. That life flashing before our eyes bit is important. The central thing of both Heaven and Hell is to make us understand. It takes as long as it takes to have that epiphany that it is all an illusion and then you fade away. Once you understand that it's you giving all of it the power, it stops having any hold over you. You go to your final rest as it were."
"So the afterlife is just an illusion created by faith, is that what you're saying?" She asked.
"Pretty much, yeah,' he replied.
Zatanna took a sip of her drink and pondered this.
"So if it's an illusion and Superman is caught in it, anyone that goes in after him will be caught up in his or her own illusion, right?"
"Yes."
"So to save him, what we need is a tether back,' she said.
"How's that?"
"Wonder Woman's lasso burns away everything but the truth,' Zatanna explained. 'We use it as our tether to this world and go in and rescue Superman."
"What's this we stuff, love?" Constantine asked. "I'm not going anywhere near Hell. I'm not popular down there, need I remind you."
"But it's just an illusion, like you said,' she replied with a smile.
"A bloody dangerous illusion for me." He offered. "Count me out on this one."
"Oh, don't be a pussy, Constantine,' she fired back.
"Sticks and stones, love."
"I knew I couldn't count on you,' Zee grumbled. "I'm right though, aren't I? It could work if we had a tether to rescue him, wouldn't it?"
"In theory, yes, but it's dangerous, Zatanna.' He warned. "It's so easy to get lost in the illusion."
"That's why they call us heroes, John,' she replied.