The Game's Afoot

Interior artwork from Day of Vengeance #1 (Jun. 2005). © and TM DC. Written by Bill Willingham. Art by Josue Justiniano. 

The Oblivion Bar was bustling as Constantine entered. Lively little crowd we have here, he thought as he moved toward a corner booth near the back.  As he made his way through the bar, he received respectful nods from some of his peers… and less-than-respectful greetings from his foes.   

“Careful, mate,” he said to a scowling Wotan as he approached.  “Keep it up, and yer face’ll get stuck like that… or is it already?”  The wizard snorted in response.  Same as it ever was, thought Constantine.  Baddies gonna bad, even on neutral ground.  He moved past the evil spellcaster and then took a seat across from an old comrade. 

“Alright, Bobo,” Constantine asked his cohort.  “What’s the latest in the weird world of Detective Chimp?”  The simian sitting across from him grunted, and then wrinkled his nose for a moment.   

“What the hell, John,” the chimp said, disgusted.  “Did you go out and roll in brimstone before coming here?  Cast some sort of ‘no reek’ glamour or something, will ya?!”

Constantine smirked at one of the world’s greatest detectives.  “This from a hairy lad that often smells the same - if not worse - after a tussle with demons,” he said.  “Give us a break, Bobo old son.  Came as soon as I got yer call – hadn’t the time for a bath.”   

Interior artwork from Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three #1 (Oct. 2014). © and TM DC. Written by Tom Taylor. Art by Bruno Redondo. 

The chimp nodded.  “Yeah, yeah.  Look, somethin’s goin’ on in Gotham City… somethin’ strange.”  Constantine arched an eyebrow.  “Stranger than usual in a town full of evil clowns and strange folk in animal costumes?” he said. 

Detective Chimp rolled his eyes.  “Yeah, stranger than that… and it might be your kind of strange.  As in demons, imps, sorcerers… know what I mean?”  Constantine nodded in response.  Wish I didn’t know a bloody thing about what you mean, he thought. 

“Right, so… strange things, possibly involving occult, supernatural, or unholy forces, are afoot in the city of Gotham,” said Constantine. “Care to be a bit more specific?” 

“Sure,” the chimp replied.  “Looks like someone powerful is killing magic users… good, bad, doesn’t matter.  At least eight spell-slingers have been taken out so far – that I know of.  You know how it is there – lots of people stick to the shadows.  Especially the crooks – none of ‘em want a run in with You-Know-Who.” 

“Who does,” Constantine replied.  “Can’t say I fancy a run-in with Mr. Pointy-Ears either, and we’re on the same side… more or less.”  He grinned and winked at the chimp.  “I’ll wing it over there and see what’s what.  Let ya know if I find anything.  Cheers.” 

--- 

And Bobo said I smelled foul, Constantine thought as he walked along the Gotham City waterfront. I’ve been in parts of Hell that smell better than this bloody town!  He pulled out a small notebook from his trenchcoat and checked an address written within.  Looks like this is the place – 22 Haney Avenue.  He looked at the broken-down warehouse before him for a moment before moving into a nearby alleyway.  Here we are then – the scene of the crime.   

The alley was littered with trash and debris, including scorched bits of masonry.   The sorcerer took note of several dark blast points on the walls and frowned. Looks like we had a super-tussle here, he thought.  Whoever this was, they went out fighting.  He kneeled to check a clear section of alleyway, taking notice of the tell-tale signs of a police investigation.  An incantation and some arcane hand gestures later, and a normally unseen aura of purple magic energy appeared before his eyes, glowing brightest at a small point on the ground.  Definitely a practitioner, he thought. Their mana burst out of ‘em like a bomb when they died.  He cleared the aura with a casual flick of his wrist… and revealed a dark, caped figure standing silently before him.  

“Bloody ‘ell, Bats! You trying to put me in an early grave,” Constantine exclaimed.  “Give us a warning next time, you sneaky bugger!”  

Interior artwork from Injustice: Gods Among Us Year Three #2 (Oct. 2014). © and TM DC. Written by Tom Taylor. Art by Bruno Redondo.

“Our mutual detective friend didn’t tell you I was coming,” the Batman asked in response.   

“Must’ve slipped his mind,” Constantine muttered.  “You lookin’ into the killings as well?” 

Batman nodded before turning his gaze downward.  “Your thoughts,” he said as he studied the crime scene with a gadget from his utility belt. 

“Magic user, threw a few fireballs before the killer finished ‘em off,” Constantine said.  “Thing is, there’s no mortal residual… no trace of the body that the mana in the air here used to occupy.  Like they were… disintegrated.” 

“Indeed,” the Dark Knight replied.  “To be specific, the victim was disrupted at the molecular level. Only a small portion of organic dust was left behind, collected as evidence by the police.” 

“Any idea on who our wizard-killer might be,” Constantine said.  “Mordru, perhaps?” 

“Possibly; I’ve had people reach out to the Legion on that,” Batman said.  “But other powered individuals have been hit as well.  Magic users appear to be the killer’s latest targets – not their only targets.” 

“Aint we a lucky bunch,” Constantine replied. “What’s the next move, then?” 
 
“We need to broaden the scope of the investigation,” Batman said.  “There haven’t been any killings for 72 hours, where they were happening nightly before.” 
 
“Sounds like the killer scarpered,” Constantine asked. “But to where?  Metropolis?  Maybe it’s time for you to have a word with Big Blue, eh?” 
 
“Already have,” said Batman. “X-Ray vision might find something we’ve missed.” 

“Must be nice,” Constantine replied, smirking. “In the meantime, us little people will do the legwork in our own way.  Should I light the Bat-Lamp if I find out more?” 
 
“Bat-Signal, and no,” the Dark Knight said before firing a grapple line to a nearby roof.  “Contact Zatanna if anything comes up.” 
 
“Right,” Constantine said as the dark figure rose upward into the night. Whoever this killer is… they better hope I find them before the Bat does, he thought. He shivered for a moment and turned to walk out of the alley. 

To be continued...