Chapter Text
Quiet days didn’t exist. Perhaps they did for others, but not for those burdened by the responsibility of power and the moral drive to do the right thing. Even so, it was easy enough to pretend that the day was quiet, if only for a moment.
Batman stood in the Watchtower’s main meeting room. It’d changed a lot since those early days. What was once a single round table with six chairs was now far larger, with many more chairs, and shaped like a horseshoe. Projectors allowed for holo screens to float behind those who sat at the head of the table for debriefs and the open space at the end allowed for them to listen to others who didn’t have a seat to speak to the League. Unlike many other rooms in the Watchtower, this one had no windows to view the planet below the station or distant space. Here, secrets were divulged and kept.
BAM!
The door flew open as Constantine rushed inside. The Brit looked more haggard than usual, the bags under his eyes deeper and his blond hair stuck up in random places. Constantine’s beige trench coat, white shirt, and inappropriately loose red tie desperately needed to be washed. Hell, the man almost had a beard instead of his perpetual five o’clock-shadow. In his hands were a variety of scrolls, books, and loose papers that he unceremoniously dumped onto the table. When Batman turned to face Constantine neither his expression nor his demeanor gave away any of Batman’s thoughts or emotions. The only thing Batman showed was his shadowy demeanor and an intense gaze that missed nothing.
“Constantine,” Batman grunted, his low and gravelly voice deadly serious. He had reason to be. Constantine actively avoided stepping foot into the Watchtower. On the rare instances he wanted Batman’s attention, Constantine met Batman in Gotham. This wasn’t just out of character for the Brit, it was alarming.
“Where is everyone,” Constantine asked as he started spreading his things out onto the table, his movements hurried.
“On standby.”
“Why the fuck aren’t they on standby in here? Christ!” Constantine wheeled around to glare at Batman. “First time I call a bloody meeting and you can’t be bothered to do it properly? Aren’t you the one always going on about how important it is to come to these bloody things?”
“I want to know the situation first before-”
“We don’t have time for your paranoia.” Constantine snapped as he searched the desk’s surface looking for the control panel that he knew was there. Batman stepped over and pressed a previously invisible button.
“Emergency meeting. All available members-”
“Fuck that.” Constantine shoved Batman aside and smashed the com button himself. “Everyone in the meeting room. NOW!”
While they waited for everyone to join them, Batman tried to get Constantine to explain things before everyone arrived. Constantine blew him off in favor of getting all of his shit sorted, namely spells to prevent any magical eyes and ears from listening in. That and he didn’t want to repeat the bad news. This wasn’t the kind of thing anyone wanted to say at all, let alone more than once. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the spots to fill up. Not everyone was there. Many were off-world or busy with their own missions. The usual suspects like Green Lantern, Flash, Superman, Hawk Woman, Zatanna, Black Canary, and Shazam filtered in. To Batman’s surprise, there were a few faces he didn’t expect to see. Namely Red Hood, Jason Blood, and Deadman. Constantine must have called them.
“Constantine called a meeting? Oh, this’ll be rich,” Flash said as he lounged in his seat, his feet crossed on the table as the other members took their seats.
“What’s wrong with that,” Shazam asked, his brows pinched in confusion, partially due to Flash’s question but also due to the variety of ancient tomes that occupied the head of the table. Zatanna eyed them as well with a deep-set frown. “Seems important.”
“Oh yeah. I’m sure. The world is ending right?” Flash rolled his hand in a sarcastic wave. “Always is. But whenever it’s Constantine the world is somehow ending even worse than usual. Some nasty demon or whatever wants to get into this universe blah, blah, blah. It’s not that big of a deal. Just tell me where the portal is and I’ll go grab whatever stupid crystal thingy powers it. Bam. No more problems.”
If looks could kill then Flash would be dead on the spot from the absolute venom in Constantine’s glare. “Yes,” Constantine spat. “The world is ending. Whole damn dimension will if we don’t stop this.” Flash rolled his eyes, but Constantine plowed forward. He pressed a button and a dozen mugshots from around the world popped up on floating hollo-screens. “Meet the members of The Cult of Infinite Death, run by this fucker,” Constantine motioned to a picture of a man who looked like an average suburban dad in his late fifties. The text beneath it scrolled with a seemingly never ending list of crimes; most of which were murder or worse. “Frank Willington. This psychopath’s got a rap sheet longer than the Watchtower is tall and buried just as many bodies.”
“But he looks so… normal.” Shazam looked even more confused. “Like my er- like middle school teacher… The kind I used to go to ages ago… Back when I was a kid. But that was a long time ago.” Several Leaguers shot Shazam a variety of looks as Shazam was supposed to be several thousand years old, but before any of them could get off-topic Batman cleared his throat.
“Most of the real sickos do,” said Constantine. “This lot somehow decided to not only jump headfirst into the world of magic, but to go straight to the one thing no one, and I mean no one should ever touch: The Ghost King.” Shazam gasped as Zatanna turned sheet white.
“So… you want us to fight a ghost?” Green Lantern raised a brow and motioned to the screen. “No offense, but I don’t see how this is full League material. Why can't Justice League Dark handle this like you normally do?”
“This is a lot worse than a ghost.” Zatanna stood and headed over to the scrolls and books Constantine brought with him. “Are you sure they figured it out?”
“Damn, sure.” Constantine pulled out his flask and took a more than healthy swig before continuing. “Don’t let the name fool you. The Ghost King isn’t just the king of ghosts. He’s the king of the whole god damned Infinite Realms. We’re not talking heaven or hell or any other thousand afterlives. The Realms are the afterlife. Every other afterlife exists inside them. All dimensions, living and dead, are attached to it. It’s the place where entire dimensions go when they die. The spot where gods get put to rest. Even Death will end up there one day. And the Ghost King is the one in charge of it all. They’re everyone’s boss’s boss. The last one at the end of the line. Eventually, everyone and everything will fall under their domain.”
Constantine paused to look around the room and let his words sink in. Tension filled the air. Even Flash looked serious, if a bit skeptical. “So far, we’ve all been lucky. The Ghost King stays in the Infinite Realms and not many are dumb enough to go poking at that cursed place. Those that do always end up as permanent residents. Most of the time before they can leave any trace of their idiocy. Although there are a few who managed to last long enough to write some shit down.”
“What do you have?” Batman didn’t like going into this fight with practically no information. Or any fight for that matter. The more they knew, the better.
“Mostly that the place is a mindfuck hellscape filled with extremely powerful ghosts and rules that make no sense. I’d say we should be thankful that The Cult of Infinite Death isn’t trying to open a portal to that god-forsaken place, but that’d honestly be preferable to our current situation. We don’t have a lot of time either. Willington’s preparing the ritual as we speak.”
Zatanna cut in, nodding in apology to Constantine who took the interruption in stride. “The Ghost King is the single most dangerous entity in every Realm and we are very lucky that the King remains there. Even those who are insane enough to mess with the Realms steer clear of the King. No one in any history has even dared to make a summoning circle for the King. It’d only spell doom for their entire universe. Likely several others as well. What could possibly possess these people to do such a thing?”
“Oh, believe me, love, if they were possessed we wouldn’t be in this mess.” Constantine went to take another drink, but a glare from Batman had him lowering the flask with a grumble.
“Right now, the ‘why’ isn’t important. We’ll figure that out later.” Batman stepped forward to take charge. “We need to find the cult and stop them before they summon the Ghost King. Constantine, I take it you know where they are?”
“Luckily, I do.” Constantine pushed another button and a map of Utah appeared with a bright red dot on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. “Problem is, they’ve got the place guarded to hell and back. Not just with mages. They pulled in anyone with a penchant for murder. Even worse, because this is magic, some of our heavy hitters are automatic no-gos.” The table all turned to look at Superman. He hunched over and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “As is a good portion of Justice League Dark. Blood and Deadman are too close to the Realms. If the summoning ritual starts, there’s a good chance they’ll turn on us against their will. After all, they’re already subjects of the King.”
“But you called all of us here,” Batman said. “What’s your plan?”
“Me, Batsy, Martian Manhunter, Hood, and Shazam will break into the compound and stop the ritual. Anyone who can stand magic and bullets will act as backup to keep the guards at bay. Everyone else…” Constantine looked to Flash and Superman. “You’re on evacuation. And I mean everyone.” Even if they stopped the ritual or managed to reverse it, the casualties were bound to be enormous. That kind of energy didn’t simply go away. It lingered like a deadly miasma, stretching invisible bony fingers to any within reach. Not to mention all the actual serial killers on the loose.
“Excuse me,” Martian Manhunter politely said with a raise of his hand. “But why me?”
“Because ghosts of the realms, even the Ghost King, are beings made from emotions. Well… That’s what all the literature says at least.” Manhunter raised a brow at that. Shazam looked nervous. Batman suppressed an eye twitch. They didn’t have nearly enough information. Constantine continued on, uncaring of his co-workers' plights. “If the King is summoned, your telepathy might be enough to confuse the bastard long enough for us to shove them back inside.”
“And if it’s not?” Batman looked to Constantine, his scowl deep and clearly unhappy.
“Then Zatanna gives it a try after we’re all dead.” Constantine pulled out a cigarette and lit it. “If she can’t do it, well… Hopefully the end is quick.”