Chapter 56 - Dark

(Before we start the reason I'm doing this instead of Age of extinction is because I need Optimus for future chapters before Civil war since I've got big plans So enjoy this for now)

The Heroes of the Universe were at a facility called the hall of justice going over a new problem. Civilians who were known to be law abiding citizens have claimed to have been seeing other people as demons and monsters. This event has been active for the past 3 days.

"These crimes were committed by law abiding people. Each and every one of them have claimed to have seen nightmarish visions beforehand. This event is occurring all over the world. Perhaps a paranormal event." Sean said.

"Are you talking about Magic?" Batman asked.

"We've come up against people with magic before. Even the Ghost Riders powers are based on magic. With all we've seen can you rule it out?" Sean asked.

"The Criminally insane don't need magic as an excuse." Batman said.

"Maybe not but still. This wouldn't be the first time in history Magic has caused an event like this." Raiden said.

"What do you suggest?" Batman asked.

"Hmmm. I have an old friend who might have the answer to this. Shang Tsung, Quan Chi your both with me. The Rest of you keep an eye out for anything suspicious." Sean said getting them to follow him.

Later

"Who's house is this?" Quan Chi asked as they appeared in front of a large house.

"It's called the house of mystery. An old friend of mine owns this place." Sean said before knocking on the door.

"Go away. Bugger off." A male voice said.

"John it's me. Open the door you jackass." Sean said before someone did answer the door. He had blonde hair white skin and blue eyes. This was John Constantine the person who trained Sean in controlling his powers.

"Oh sorry about the mate. I haven't seen you in ages." Constantine said letting them in. "Hope this isn't about me not going to your sisters party. From what I hear they gave that Nasty Norc a beating." Constantine said making Sean chuckle.

"No this isn't about that. Theres been an unusual problem around the world lately involving magic giving people nightmares and visions." Sean said.

"And you think its all dark magic?" Constantine asked.

"Theres no other explanation for it." Sean said.

Meanwhile

Batman was heading towards a magic show held be a close friend of his Zatanna.

"How are you Bruce?" Zatanna asked.

"I'm fine Zatanna. Busy. Do you know where I can find John Constantine?" Batman asked.

"No." Zatanna answered quickly.

"You must have an idea." Batman said.

"We dont keep in touch that much. Ask Sean maybe he'll tell you." Zatanna said.

"I tried I cant reach him." Batman said before he stood still making her raise an eyebrow.

"Z, Batman needs to talk to John. You've got to come along, too. It's important." A different male voice said in Batman.

"Is that you, Boston?" Zatanna asked before Batman regained control and the person controlling him flew out.

"What is going on?" Batman asked not amused.

"Uh I'll tell you on the way to John's." Zatanna said sheepishly while glaring at the one known as Deadman.

Later

"So let me get this straight these people have been seeing others as demons and monsters for the past three days?" Constantine asked.

"So far. No idea whats causing it." Sean said before he felt the house move to a new location which was normal since it did that but this time it felt forced. "The hell?" Sean asked before he went to the door seeing Batman, Deadman, Hellboy and Zatanna running away from a Tornado. "Get into the house!" Sean yelled getting them inside before slamming the door and the house vanished to somewhere else in Japan.

Sean landed on top of Zatanna.

"Z?" Sean asked.

"Can you get it off me?" Zatanna asked making him do that and pulled her up.

"Wasn't expecting to see you of all people today." Sean said before looking at Deadman and glared.

"Oh come on are you still pissed cause I took over your body during that meeting?" Deadman asked only for Sean to try to hit him with his chain. "Uh I'll take that as a yes." Deadman said sheepishly.

"Whats he saying now?" Batman asked since he couldn't see him.

"Uh-uh we're not playing this game. John you mind?" Sean asked making him chuckle before casting a spell to make Deadman visible.

"Heh so thats what he looks like." Hellboy said smoking a cigar.

"The hell are you guys even doing here? I told you I would handle this." Sean said.

"Ask him." Batman said looking at Deadman.

"Asshole." Sean said.

Later

John was looking over the memoirs of the events during the past three days.

"Well?" Hellboy asked.

"I've never seen magic like this. Its ancient extremely in that regard." Constantine said.

"How ancient?" Quan Chi asked.

"Thousands of years or so...AHHH!" Constantine yelled as a purple skinned woman appeared. "Hey, I told you not to do that, Orchid. Use a bloody door." Constantine said.

"This one of your new harem girls?" Zatanna asked Sean.

"HA HA HA. No. This is the magic of the house. Anyway we need to find out whats causing all this." Sean said.

"Fine but we do this as a team." Zatanna said making Sean groan out loudly in annoyance.

"Ugh this is the fucking monkey Cage in Sumatra all over again! Oh we need to save the fucking monkeys she said." Sean said annoyed.

"You are such an asshole." Zatanna said walking up to him.

"Oh, not the monkeys." Deadman said.

"Says the guy who's got a lot of screw ups when he first started out as a leader." Zatanna said.

"But not fucking monkeys. Your still way fucking ahead on dead monkeys. Hell you just have to make things..." Sean tried to say.

"We're wasting time." Batman said making Sean sigh in annoyance.

"Fine! If we're going to solve this we need to make a stop first." Sean said.

"You mean?" Constantine asked.

"Yup." Sean said.

Later

"Stop being such a child. Where are we going?" Zatanna asked Sean.

"Richie's." Sean said.

"Have either of you talked to him Lately?" Zatanna asked.

"I have every few months. He on the other hand you can guess." Sean said making Constantine roll his eyes before they got to Richie's house only to see Shrouds there. "Oh shit not good." Sean said.

"Sean Ashburn Kruger, Leader of the Ghost Riders and the heroes of the Universe. No matter your friends soul will be ours." One of the Shrouds said.

"Fuck off you worthless Halloween fuck." Sean said.

"Who's he talking to now?" Batman asked.

"Shrouds. They deliver souls to hell." Hellboy said having some experience with them before. The four shrouds surrounded Batman.

"They're Drawn to you." Zatanna said.

"Maybe it's your Cologne, Batsy." Constantine said.

"No thats not it." Sean said.

"This one has cheated us many times. It is vexing." The Shroud said.

"Boo." Batman said scaring them off somewhat making Sean chuckle.

"Well this has been lovely, but its time for you lot to bugger off." Constantine said casting a spell and they vanished just as the door opened.

"I thought I sensed a disturbance in the force. Still surprised thats actually real and not a movie thing." Richie said. "How you doing boys?" Richie asked Sean and Constantine.

Richie led them inside where they saw he was clearly in bad shape.

"Man." Sean said.

"Yeah I might have lied about how quickly I'm sliding down hill kid. So what brings you guys by? I know this isn't just a social visit." Richie said.

"Recently a large number of incidents involving dark ancient magic have occurred all over the world. We need a certain item in order to look into the mind of one of the victims to see how this all began." Sean said.

"Oh is that all?" Richie said before puling out a box finding some old coin and handed it to him. "Tell your sisters I said hi when you see them again." Richie said as they left.

Later

The group soon went into a hospital into one of the victims rooms.

"How does this work?" Batman asked.

"Think of it as a shortcut without having to go through hours of incantations to get into his memories." Shang Tsung said.

"Alight lets go." Zatanna said.

"Oh no your out of practice." Sean said making her glare.

"Look like it or not this will go a lot faster with the three of us since Shang Tsung and Quan chi need to stay out here with Batman." Zatanna said making him sigh.

"Fine." Sean said as they entered his mind.

The three soon appeared inside the first victim's mind and Zatanna was zoning out before.

"Hey!" Sean said next to her making her widen her eyes and shake her head to focus.

"I'm fine." Zatanna said as they looked through the memoirs of the victim when John found one of him as a kid being bullied by others. "I've never liked this sort of magic. I can feel darkness seeping into me. How you guys stand it is beyond me." Zatanna said.

"It's all about control. If you need a reminder." Sean said.

"We've had this discussion I haven't changed my mind." Zatanna said looking into another memory.

"Sure, sit out the war between good and evil. After all you've got a good thing being applauded by civilians." Sean said.

"Really? Now?" Zatanna asked.

"I'm just saying you could be doing so much more." Sean said as Zatanna looked into the memory of the victim's father beating him.

"The Magic I use brings people happiness." Zatanna said

"Are you sure it's not the two drink minimum?" Constantine asked making Sean chuckle.

"You're such a pessimist." Zatanna said.

"No we expect the worst. So when the worst happens we're prepared." Sean said.

"Oh you mean like World War 3?" Zatanna asked sarcastically.

"That came out of nowhere fast thanks to Makarov. Besides that partially Shepherd's fault not mine." Sean said.

"Another precious moment." Constantine said.

"There was joy to. His madness swept it away." Zatanna said sadly making Sean sigh before looking at one memory.

"Found it." Sean said as they entered the memory when his madness began.

"This is the exact moment when his madness began." Constantine said.

"What do you think will set him off?" Zatanna asked.

"My money is on the crossword puzzle. Those things can be annoying as hell at times." Sean said making her smile before the room was engulfed in darkness and a dark figure shoved a dark hand into the victim's head. Sean spotted a ring on the hand and then the whole memory space started to darken. Sean copied the piece and all three exited the victim's body and came to a large monstrous body of literal shit. "Ok that is so fucking disgusting." Sean said before casting a spell to send it away into a lava pit.

"Whoa Shits really hit the fan." Deadman said.

"Seriously you had go there?" Sean asked.

Later

"I've never seen this before." Constantine said looking at the ring Sean had.

"Nor have I. If theres one person who can tell us who it belongs to though it's Richie." Sean said before seeing more Shrouds outside Richie's house. One Shroud came out of the door.

"Kruger." The Shroud said.

"Mother Fucker." Sean said rushing in and destroyed the shroud only for.

"YOU!" Sean yelled in surprise seeing the Dark Rider along with Jason Blood in the room before they bolted. Sean and Constantine went after them while Batman revived Richie.

"Why?" Richie asked having a needle in his chest. Sean and Constantine came back with the Dark Rider and Jason chained up.

Later

"Start talking or I swear I will burn you for centuries." Sean said glaring at the Dark Rider before taking the Gag off him.

"Look I swear It wasn't what it looked like. We we're trying to help him." The Dark Rider said.

"Oh please you both were all over him." Deadman said.

"He was like that when we found him. We tried to help but then Sean busted in and we knew we'd get blamed." Jason said.

"Well?" Quan Chi asked Sean.

"Blood is a man of honor so I don't think he's lying. Him on the other hand." Sean said looking at the Dark Rider before releasing him. "These events have been causing you problems as well haven't they?" Sean said.

"Indeed. Some of my plans have been set back due to my troops being effected." The Dark Rider said.

"Your Friend awakens from sleep." Orchid said.

Richie had told Constantine that Felix Faust was responsible for this.

"Faust? I killed him years ago." Sean said.

"With a pistol mate. Conventional weapons like that are no good against magic." Constantine said.

"Yeah I guess I should have thought of that. Still Faust would take precautions to make sure he isn't found. But there might be someone I know who can help us." Sean said.

"Oh bloody hell mate please tell me you don't mean him?" Constantine asked in fear.

"Relax John he's a good friend and ally to me." Sean said.

Later

"Why are we in a godforsaken swamp?" Jason asked.

"You'll see." Sean said as they came to a pound.

"Go...Away!" A voice said making Sean sigh before jumping in the middle.

"Swamp Thing! I'm in no mood to be ignored. Get out here already. You still owe me for letting you into the Beast Makers world." Sean said before the swamp began to change and Swamp Thing appeared.

"Sean. For what reason do you require my aid?" Swamp Thing asked one of his few good trustworthy friends.

"We need help to locate Felix Faust. Your the only one who could get us to where we need to go. He's already spilled innocent blood for the past 3 days." Sean said.

"Hmmm. Very Well." Swamp Thing said before they were taken to where Faust was at. "I have done as you have asked. Now I must return to protect the green." Swamp Thing said.

"Thank you." Sean said as he left.

"So how do you propose we get in? Knock on the door?" The Dark Rider asked.

"Did we ask you? I don't think so." Hellboy said glaring at him.

"Red Enough. Jason, do you mind please?" Sean asked.

"Well at least your asking unlike him." Jason said talking about Constantine who rolled his eyes. "Gone, gone, the form of man." Jason said before.

"Arise the demon Etrigan!" Etrigan yelled taking form.

"Never ceases to amaze me." Sean said.

"Alright boys lets go." Hellboy said.

The battle was short due to the amount of manpower they had but Zatanna nearly lost control.

"Z enough! You need to calm down! You're not like me you're no killer!" Sean yelled making Zatanna regain control and fell to the ground before Sean caught her.

"You see why I cant do what you guys do?" Zatanna asked.

"You just lost control. It happens to the best of us." Sean said making her smile while Hellboy grabbed Faust.

"Why are you even here? I haven't done anything but study since the last time we met." Faust said making Sean and Zatanna raise an Eyebrow before Sean showed the ring.

"Is this yours?" Sean asked.

"I don't know. I have hundreds of rings of many designs." Faust said.

"It isn't him. He summoned our old poker buddies in their more massive forms." Jason said showing the demons three.

"Who are they?" Sean asked.

"The Demons three. Won a poker game with them winning a few Knick Knacks. Like that Dream stone you saw before." Constantine said making Sean widen his eyes.

"Oh god damnit!" Sean yelled.

"What?" Constantine asked.

"Now I know why that thing looked so familiar. Thats the dream stone of Destiny. That was a lunatic during the time of Camelot." Sean said.

"So big deal not like it's dangerous since its cracked up." Constantine said.

"So we're back to square one." Deadman said.

"No we're not. Don't forget your friend is the one who sent us here." Batman said.

"Richie? But he's dying from a rare magic cancer that not even I can heal." Sean said.

"Is he though?" Batman asked making Sean frown.

Later

"Richie open the fucking door." Sean yelled before barging into the house and found Richie standing without his cane in front of the fireplace.

"Sorry kid." Richie said before levitating them up.

"Richie please." Zatanna said.

"Damnit old man knock it off!" Sean yelled.

"Sorry kid. But ever since Johnny got me infected I've been searching for a cure and I finally found one. A small piece of the dream stone. It's sentient. It told me how to get the demons three to bring the rest of it to Earth. It would have been so easy to take it from them but Rock Star Johnny screwed everything sideways. So, we had to frame faust and get you to bring me here. Now I'm immortal and supercharged." Richie said.

"Open your fucking eyes! The stone isn't sentient. Whats left of Destiny's soul has been playing you for a sap since the second you found it. Getting you to commit nightmarish crimes all over the world while innocent blood was spilled." Sean said.

"You just don't want this kind of power around." Richie said.

"Not even close as your about to find out." Sean said as the stone merged into Richie's chest.

"Wait! We had a deal!" Richie yelled before screaming in pain as his body changed and Destiny had appeared.

"Ah free at last!" Destiny said before destroying the house but thankfully Sean created a barrier.

"Ugh. Goddamnit!" Sean said.

"Well that went well." The Dark Rider said.

"We need to stop him. Batman tell the others not to engage Destiny otherwise they'll get infected." Sean said.

Later

Destiny was causing chaos through the city of New York having civilians attack each other in fear.

"Yes such sweet fear." Destiny said before Etrigan appeared and tried to kill him only for Destiny's shield to block him. "I've had 1,600 years to think about you, Etrigan. Call this poetic Justice." Destiny said before blasting him and in the process separated Jason and Etrigan.

"Ah Crap." Hellboy said.

"Got another plan?" The Dark Rider asked.

"I've got hundreds of plans." Sean said before casting a spell and where Destiny was at a large number of dead plants regrew before large vines attacked Destiny.

"Who dares strike at me!" Destiny demanded.

"The Defender of the green. Swamp Thing!" Swamp Thing said before attacking him.

"Somehow I don't think he's going to be enough." Constantine said.

"Well I do have another idea. How do you feel about being bait?" Sean asked grinning.

Swamp thing bashed Destiny into a building before a ball of fire was launched at him. Swamp thing was about to attack again but Sean held him back.

"Trick or Treat Freak!" Deadman said coming out of John when he was inside the shield and deactivated his shield before Jason shoved a sword into Destiny's chest shoving out the dream stone.

"Merlin sends his regards." Jason said. Sean, Constantine and the Dark Rider lite Destiny up like a bon fire before Richie appeared along with the shrouds.

"Come on boys I was under a compulsion." Richie said. Sean was about to help him out but the Dark Rider stopped him.

"Let him die in hell." The Dark Rider said as the Shrouds took Richie's soul to hell.

"As much as I hate to admit it. We do make a good team." Sean said making the Dark Rider snort.

"This is a one time deal." The Dark Rider said before vanishing.

"Well looks like you two finally have your own lives again." Hellboy said.

"Yes but I would call this a good thing bad thing." Jason said before groaning in pain as he collapsed.

"The hell?" Sean said seeing a wound forming blood. "When did he get injured?" Sean asked.

"He didn't. If I had to guess he got that during his fight against Destiny 1,600 years ago." Constantine said.

Later

Sean and Constantine were at the burial site of Jason Blood.

"Took him this long to finally be at peace." Sean said.

"To bad it took him this to get him home." Constantine said.

"Zatanna is joining the alliance. Finally decided to make a better difference in the world." Sean said.

"Cant say I'm surprised. And somehow I can tell she's already in that growing Harem of yours." Constantine said making Sean chuckle.

"The others want you in the league as well." Sean said making him scoff.

"Yeah right mate." Constantine said only for Sean to smirk making him blink. "You have got to be bloody kidding. No Way. Batsy would go mental." Constantine said.

"He was who asked. John theres a war coming on the horizon. I know you can feel it. We need everyone. Etrigen, Swamp Thing and Dead man have decided to join the alliance as well." Sean said making him rub his chin before sighing.

"Well I guess I cant ignore this anymore then I already have. Alright mate I'm in." Constantine said.

"Good. Lets go meet the others." Sean said.

Meanwhile in the Nether Realm

Shinock the fallen Elder god stood chained to a prison before his chains were destroyed.

"About time my friend." Shinock said as the Dark Rider appeared.

"Let us go. It will not be long before the Elder Gods notice your disappearance." The Dark Rider said.

"And all it took for my freedom was the death of Destiny. You were wise to make that old fool find that fragment of the dream stone." Shinock said making the Dark Rider smirk under his face mask.