Now
Los Angeles, California
"There is a war coming... Actually, I believe it may already be here."
John Constantine waited for more, he waited for a minute, during which he grew more and more impatient and finally got up from his seat, realizing that was the big news.
"That's why you made me come down all the way here?" asked Constantine as he took a pack of cigarette out of his coat pocket, lodged it between his lips, then lit it with a metallic Zippo lighter.
Constantine turned around in his spot in the back-room office of Club Midnite, snickering with the cigarette between his index and middle fingers. He took off his coat and tossed it onto the Italian sofa, loosened his neck tie and unbuttoned the top his shirt's top button.
"Midnite, you've been fucking around with zombies and efrits for too long, you've lost your grasp on current events."
Papa Midnite, the Jamaican shaman of six and a half feet stretched in his seat and lit a cuban cigar.
"I'm not referring to the war in Iraq, John. I'm talking about something else entirely."
"Aw, Jesus." Said Constantine as he took a drag from his cigarette, "The country's going to war again? Who is it this time, Iran? Syria? How about North Korea?"
"This has nothing to do with mundane politics; this is a different kind of war."
Constantine paced and smoked silently for a second.
"Alright, I'll bite. What's the score?"
"Gabriel."
"Gabriel? You're kidding."
"She said she's been having dreams about this, always too blurry. The most lucid of these vision she saw a tall blond woman, Germanic apparently. Some other psychics keep getting a vibe as well.
"Back in March, Johnny Smith bumped into a man during one of the fights; I believe it was Michael Corvinus versus George Kapalan. Anyway, Smith had a vision that this man, an Indian, was a man of great importance, as was Kaplan. He said that both were key players in the war to come; the Invisible War."
"The invisible war? Isn't that a video game or something?"
"John, is everything a joke to you?"
"No, seriously. I remember playing it a few years ago when my leg was broken, kept getting killed by a robot." said Constantine as he sat back down, "Smith is kind of a drunk these days, Midnite. At the rate he's chugging down Bourbon, his so called dead zone must be on the fritz. Anyway, whatever it is I'm sure you'll handle it."
"This has to be you, John."
"Why me? I got enough troubles as it is; I've got people I owe money, I've got angry husbands after me with baseball bats, not to mention that the Devil is waiting for me to slip. Oh, and let's no forget that I'm a fugitive. I'm wanted for murder, Midnite."
Constantine picked up the bottle of whisky on Midnite's table without permission and preceded to drink directly from it.
"I could care less what a fallen angel and an ex-celebrity psychic have been dreaming about."
"Yes, I heard about your recent troubles with the law. Did you do it, John?"
"You mean did I eviscerate that girl alive, peel off her eyelids and cut a triangle out of her scalp? I didn't kill her, she was already dead when I found her. But yes, I did mutilate her, if I hadn't then the demon in her would have tok over the body of the next poor schmuck to lay a hand on her."
Midnite bowed his head and took off his hat, then reached into the pockets of his brown velvet coat to produce a cheroot.
"Wouldn't it be a good idea to leave the country? Or even the state? I have friends in Gotham, I could set-"
"No thanks, Midnite." Said Constantine somberly as he took a drag of his cigarette, "This is my city, I like it here. Besides, they don't have much in the way of evidence from what I hear. Also, Angela's the lead detective on the case; she wouldn't find it in herself to come after me for real."
"As I recall, you did not part on good terms. Didn't she have a friend of hers have you kicked out of your building over building violations out of spite?"
"Yeah. Women.." Said Constantine as he got up, "Look, good luck with the video game war. My sister is threatening to come and visit unless I call so I'm gonna do that. Take care, Linton."
Constantine headed for the door, but just as he raised his hand to reach for the knob, he heard a button being pressed followed be a beep, and just as his fingers touched the cold brass knob, he heard the voice.
"Mister Midnite? This is Angela Dodson… John's ex-girlfriend. We met once…… I realize you must have lots on your plate; you probably get these kinds of calls all the time. It's just I've been having these episodes, premonitions or whatever. I think there is a war coming… The Invisible War is what it's called. I know John must be hiding, maybe you're the one hiding him. That doesn't matter right now, we should talk."
A beep followed. Constantine turned around and walked back to Midnite's desk and sat in front of him.
"When?"
"Two nights ago."
"Did you meet her?"
"Yes."
"What did she have to say?"
"What I've already told you. She mentioned an Indian man and anther man contorted out of shape."
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Apparently something like Mister Fantastic."
"You mean that clown super-hero in New York? He's involved?"
"These are psychic visions, John, almost everything is an askew metaphorical reflection of what it really is."
"Any idea who is Kaplan?"
"A vampire using an alias."
"What kind of vampire?"
"LaMagran."
"LaMagran? Didn't all the LaMagran vampires die after that Daystar business four years ago?"
"Apparently this one hasn't. The point is that Angela, Gabriel, Smith and others have mentioned an invisible war as well as the Indian man or the blond woman. So, does this warrant your interest?"
Constantine ran his hands through his hair, then stood up, put out his cigarette in the ashtray.
"I have a few things to do first. I gotta get some money, fast, pay off the bookies and the shylocks, try and work something out with the homicidal husbands and wait out the murder debacle. Maybe then I'll give this a gander."
"The world may be going to hell as we speak, John."
"Look, I'll do what I can. Alright?" shouted Constantine as he picked up his coat and headed for the door, "I got to take care of my own shit first, but if you're in a hurry you can always contact the Watcher's council."
Midnite sighed.
"I can't believe you're a man who has kept hell from spilling onto this world."
"Yeah, funny little world, isn't it?"
The Following Morning
Gotham City, Maryland
"Your…Your hair."
Mina looked through her bathroom door to see Mandy, her adjutant and life partner standing a few feet outside in the hall, holding a stack of folders under her arm with a look of slight surprise in her eyes.
"Yes." Said Mina as she looked back at the mirror, at her still wet hair, now back to its natural crimson after several years of having bleached locks.
"I've changed it. I've been a blond for too long…. Do you like it?"
"Ummm…. I liked it when you were a blond, but yeah, Jo, It's great."
"Splendid." Said Mina as she walked out of the bathroom, fastening her bathrobe around her tall slender body, "Tell Mister Belvedere to bring us breakfast on the balcony, and tea, Earl Grey. Wait for me there as I get dressed."
-------------------------------
Mandy felt somewhat at odds as she sat on the balcony. Josephine was sat in front of her, having gotten dressed in a black fitting top, a brown leather skirt and high heeled boots. She was looking across the city skyline at the Novick Building as it was overshadowed by Wayne Tower. And for some reason unknown to Mandy, she seemed oddly content, a shadow of a playful smile dancing on the corner of her lips.
Though Mandy felt that it wasn't just being content, Josephine looked as vibrant and lively as she had in a long time, particularly after her constant bouts of depression and mood swings ever since the League's top nine convened over two and a half months ago.
"Gump reports that the opposition has formed an elite unit, a black ops division." Said Mandy, "It's all top-level secret. But he thinks that Mona Sax and Judas Priest are members of the team. These are the same two who have, er…"
"The same two who have deduced my identity and discovered the location of Gideon MacGuffin." Said Mina calmly as she sipped her tea, "An impressive pair. Too bad they're not working for us."
"Six more months without Nemo contacting them and maybe they would have. They were on our red list." Said Mandy.
"Remind of their background again."
"Sax used to work as a tech support in a middle-sized firm in Manhattan, her sister was married to an organized crime boss and she got mixed up in the Cosa Nostra as well, eventually she was recruited by your old associate Nicole Horne. She trained her and employed her up until 2001. Senator Alfred Woden hired her after that, while in his employ she did a under-the-table jobs for the government. She was arrested in 2004.
"Priest has been in the country since 1912. Before 1943 there is no record of him, though there are reports he worked for Tony Camonte and was a bootlegger in Chicago during prohibition. In '43 he was one of two vampires hired by the government and continued to work for them in various capacities; spy, assassin and soldier until 1968. He was the whistle-blower behind the My Lai massacre reaching the press, before he deserted he killed a number of his superiors and mutilated one intelligence agent. Are you ready for the good part?
"What is it?"
"Felix Leiter claims that his leg was blown off in an explosion in South America, doesn't he? Well, it's been covered up good, but I found out that it was chopped off by none other than Priest himself."
"Surely you're joking?"
"Not at all. Leiter was with Army intelligence during Vietnam, one of his missions was to take out Priest when his superiors thought they couldn't risk him getting out of control. I wonder why he had it hushed up?"
"Isn't it obvious?" asked Mina, "Imagine the New York Director's embarrassment if it became common knowledge that his disability was inflicted on him by a target of his."
"Yes, I suppose."
"What else? I invited the Tokyo Director to visit when he's in the states next month, has he responded?"
"Yeah. Erm, He said he'd already committed to meet Leiter and that he'll try to pencil you in."
"Did he?"
"There's no way he's going to snub you, I'm sure he'll come."
"Forget about him for the moment." Said Mina, "What about Regan?"
"Senator McNeil is in New York on the campaign trail, she's meeting with Leiter."
"What for?" asked Mina in surprise.
"Well, she is running for President. You may be the one who found and groomed her, but she answers to all of the League in the end."
"…What did you say?"
Mina's voice was calm as ever, yet conveyed enough rage to make even a hardened woman like Mandy tremble. Before Mandy could say anything, Mina said,
"I want you to look into it. I have a bad feeling about this."
"Whatever you say, Josephine."
Before anyone asks, Constantine isn't going to be playing a big part, though it will be important enough. He probably won't appear till a lot later, perhaps not even until season 3.
Oh, yes. There will be a season 3. The amount of noir and spy madness I have planned is too much to contain in just one story. I can barely resist the urge to tell you everything that is going to happen. But I will give you a few hints; Priest dons the cowl of the Batman, Mona and Lucy move to Old Town in Sin City and the minutemen beat the pulp out of the fantastic four.
R&R.
Next Chapter: Not sure yet, perhaps it will be on Jimmy and a trip he takes to a town called Sanford in the country side or maybe about Priest and Sayid teaching Shaun the principles of interrogation. You know what? You can decide!
a- American Idiot? Starring Jimmy Saint, Jack Mason and Mernae Waths.
b- Bad Cop? Starring Shaun Collier, Sayid Jarrah and Judas Priest.
Of course, I will write both. You just have to decide what you want to come first.