London Hospital
"I don't know how much you know about magic, but something strange has happened lately," Constantine said, his voice carrying a weight of unease.
"I'm listening," Batman replied, his tone neutral yet attentive.
Constantine sighed, exhaling a puff of smoke. "Something's opened a channel between my conscious and hell, manifesting the demon within me."
"This morning, I trampled a horde of demons to death." He paused. "In the end, there were so many, I had no choice but to swallow them back into my stomach."
Batman listened intently. He understood the words individually, but together they painted a baffling picture, especially since Bruce Wayne had no real understanding of magic. His skepticism was evident as he glanced at Constantine.
"You didn't, by any chance, have... cocaine for breakfast, did you?"
Constantine shook his head helplessly. "I knew you wouldn't get it. Why didn't your Justice League send someone who actually knows magic? That would've been helpful."
For once, Batman twitch of agreement. "Hard to believe, but I'll give you that one."
He turned to the hospital ahead. "Who are we here for?"
"Tracy," Constantine replied, leading the way. "She's the daughter of an old friend."
"You have friends?" Batman raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Constantine muttered, "the kind of bad karma you pick up as a kid and can't shake off, no matter how hard you try."
Given Batman's distinct persona, the two chose to visit the hospital under the cover of night. Save for a few officers on duty, the corridors were empty and silent.
When they reached the hospital room, they found a couple waiting anxiously. The woman's eyes lit with frustration upon seeing Constantine.
"Where the hell have you been, John?"
"I brought some outside help," Constantine answered, motioning toward Batman.
Chas, the anxious man in the room, glanced at the Dark Knight and raised an eyebrow. "You mean this guy? The weirdo in black tights?"
Unfazed, Batman replied in his calm, gravelly tone, "I. Am. Batman."
Chas looked even more perplexed. "He even has a name?"
His wife, Renee, glared at Constantine with palpable disdain. "Why are we wasting time? Why not trust the doctors?" she snapped. Her eyes flicked between Constantine and Batman with contempt.
"Calling a scumbag and a freak in a costume? How does this make any sense?"
Chas sighed, trying to soothe his wife. "We've called every doctor we could find, and none of them could help Tracy. John's our only hope."
He turned to Constantine, his voice tinged with desperation. "Please, brother. Help her."
Faced with Chas's request, Constantine could only nod helplessly.
Batman stood silently, observing everything without comment.
Following Constantine into the hospital room, he finally saw the reason for their visit—a little girl, about eight years old, lying pale and motionless on the hospital bed.
Constantine turned to Batman. "What happens next might challenge your understanding of reality, but whatever you do, don't act aggressively. Got it?"
Batman's sharp gaze met Constantine's, and he nodded slowly.
Constantine moved to the side of the bed and began murmuring an incantation in a language Batman had never heard. The words seemed to hum with power, vibrating in the air.
Suddenly, a golden energy mass materialized in Constantine's hands. With a sharp motion, he sent it forward, tearing open what looked like a shimmering, ethereal passage.
Batman instinctively took a step back, narrowing his eyes. He had heard whispers from Zatanna about magic rituals like this—portals to other realms rarely brought anything human through them.
But what stepped through wasn't what Batman expected.
A tall woman, dressed in a striking purple nurse's uniform, emerged. Her medium-length hair framed her pale, almost corpse-like skin, though her features were delicate and oddly beautiful.
As soon as she spotted Constantine, she smirked. "John, you really don't care about timing, do you?"
Constantine raised an eyebrow. "And you really don't care about professionalism, do you?"
She ignored the remark. "I was busy with a threesome—a dryad and an spirit, if you must know. Frankly, they're both better company than you."
Constantine coughed awkwardly, looking away.
The nurse's gaze shifted to Batman, her lips curling into a sly grin. "And who's this? Don't tell me you've picked up another stray."
Batman remained expressionless.
Constantine waved off her sarcasm. "Enough jokes. This is serious."
The nurse's demeanor changed as she approached the girl on the bed. Though she seemed reluctant, she knelt beside Tracey, her fingers glowing with a soft, bluish light.
As her hand moved over the child's body, Constantine muttered to Batman, "She's the Nightmare Nurse. She's a demon sharing a body with a human. Don't worry—she's on our side... mostly."
Batman didn't respond, though the tightening of his jaw revealed his skepticism.
The Nightmare Nurse sighed as her hand moved lower, her light fading. "Well, I took an oath to heal when I merged with this body, so let's see what we've got here."
Her hand flared again, this time sinking straight into Tracey's chest. Batman tensed, but Constantine raised a hand to calm him.
Moments later, the Nightmare Nurse pulled her hand back. She frowned, the magic fading from her fingertips.
"She's not possessed," she said flatly. "There's no entity inside her to be possessed."
Constantine blinked. "What?"
Batman's deep voice cut in, sharp and measured. "There's no soul inside her, is there?"
The Nightmare Nurse turned, startled by his insight. After a brief pause, she sighed and nodded. "John, this mortal's sharper than you are."
Constantine scowled but said nothing.
"But I did find something attached to her before," he protested.
The nurse rolled her eyes. "Then let's see who—or what—that was."
She summoned a short wand from thin air, its sleek surface glowing faintly. With a flick, golden threads of magic extended from its tip, diving deep into Tracey's body.
Moments later, the threads re-emerged, dragging with them a pulsating, bright red mass. The mass hovered for a moment before surging forward, clinging to the Nightmare Nurse like it had found a host.
The nurse's eyes glowed crimson for an instant before returning to their normal state. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and trembling.
"Help me!"
Constantine stepped forward eagerly. "Tracey? Is that you? Where are you?"
The Nightmare Nurse—now possessed by Tracey's consciousness—looked disoriented and weak. "I... I'm in a cage. It's dark and cold. I can't see anything."
Constantine pressed further. "Are you alone in there?"
Tracey nodded, then shivered. "Yes... except when it comes."
At the mention of "it," her small hands moved to hug herself, her body trembling in fear.
"Who? What is its name?" Constantine realized that he was most likely the culprit.
Tracey screamed in agony, her small body writhing as pain overtook her. The Nightmare Nurse's expression twisted, her features contorting into something malevolent and grotesque.
"I have many names," a chilling, guttural voice rasped from her lips. "Which one would you like to know?"
The demon had taken control.
Constantine's gaze hardened. "Who are you?"
The demon chuckled darkly. "John Constantine... If you want answers, come find me yourself."
"And where, exactly, would I find you?"
The demon laughed, its sinister mirth echoing through the room. Then, abruptly, it left the Nightmare Nurse's body. The sound of shattering glass filled the air as hellfire blazed across the hospital window, etching fiery letters into the glass:
1247 Enstrom Street, Los Angeles
The Nightmare Nurse collapsed to the floor, her body limp from the ordeal. Slowly, her true demonic form began to reveal itself—a grotesque figure with distorted female characteristics, her visage monstrous enough to terrify any ordinary soul.
Yet neither Constantine nor Batman flinched.
Constantine sighed. "You alright?"
The Nightmare Nurse stirred, her voice raspy but steady. "I'll be fine. I just need a moment."
She shifted back into her human form with a flicker of magic, her nurse's uniform pristine once more. Batman offered her a hand, helping her to her feet.
As she steadied herself, her eyes lingered on him with newfound interest. "You're... different. Handsome, too. What's your name?"
"Batman." He withdrew his hand quickly, standing rigid.
The Nightmare Nurse smirked. "Batman... fitting. A name as intriguing as you."
Constantine groaned, rolling his eyes. "Alright, Asaph, cut it out. Do you have to flirt with every man you meet, especially now?"
The Nightmare Nurse chuckled, a playful glint in her eyes. "Oh, come on, John. I'm a demon. What do you expect?"
She stretched her arms, shaking off the remnants of the possession. "Anyway, you don't have time to linger. Looks like you're heading to Los Angeles."
Constantine rubbed his temples. "Great. Another plane ticket I can't afford."
"Plane ticket?" Batman's gravelly voice interrupted.
Constantine glanced at him, puzzled, as the Dark Knight tapped a few commands on the monitor on his wrist.
A sudden gust of wind billowed through the room as heavy curtains fluttered wildly. Constantine and the Nightmare Nurse turned toward the window just in time to see a sleek black bat-shaped aircraft hovering outside.
"You have a plane?" Constantine asked, incredulous.
Batman gave a faint smirk. "How else do you think I got here? Commercial flights don't take passengers in a bat suit."
The window slid open silently. Batman stepped onto the aircraft's wing with practiced ease and climbed into the cockpit. He turned back to Constantine.
"Are you just going to stand there, or are you coming?"
Snapping out of his daze, Constantine hurried forward, clambering aboard.
The Nightmare Nurse stayed behind, watching them with a small, knowing smile. "I'll guard Tracey's body. Go handle the demon."
The Batplane's engines roared to life, and moments later, it lifted off, cutting through the London night sky at supersonic speed, heading straight for Los Angeles.
---------
"Hey, got ten bucks on you, Batman?" Constantine asked with a sly grin.
"What's the catch?" Batman raised an eyebrow, looking suspicious.
"I'm looking to support an author on Patreon," Constantine explained, his voice casual. "They're putting out four or five chapters a day for early access members."
"Well, that's a good cause," Batman muttered, already reaching for his wallet.
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