About half an hour ago, Constantine had arrived alone at the East Coast of the United States, leaving Doctor Destiny to care for the unwell Zatanna.
The emergence of vampires could not be said to be completely unrelated to the Magic realm. In order to prevent the situation from escalating to a level that even Constantine could not handle, he prepared to strike first. However, before that, he had to know how Batman planned to act.
Just as he had suggested to Moonlight to seek Batman's opinion, he knew that if vampires wanted to rule Earth, they could not bypass the Justice League, and the Justice League could not bypass Batman. Therefore, Batman's attitude would determine the direction of the entire matter.
After arriving at the East Coast, Constantine intended to head straight for Wayne Manor, but as soon as he landed, he detected traces of Necromancy, a very peculiar type of magic he had never seen operating in such a form before.
The nature of magic in DC differs from Marvel. Marvel's magic is based on energy; as long as one can procure enough energy, humans can create wondrous effects through their own ingenious ideas.
However, this is not the case in the DC Universe, because the use of DC's magic, besides needing energy, is also restricted.
Marvel's magic is like having oil, and you can build the car yourself. But in the DC World, the technology to build cars is entirely in the hands of the source of power. Merely having the oil is not enough; you have to sign a contract to get the technology for building cars, and after building one, you still need a driving license, and once on the road, you have to follow various traffic rules. The restrictions on human mages are very significant.
For example, a novice mage, no matter how much energy they possess, cannot use Antilanguage Magic because the copyright of that magic lies with Inverted Man, who dictates who can use it.
This sort of monopolization is similar across all forms of magic; even if a lucky individual suddenly acquires a vast amount of energy, they would hardly be able to use any magic— they wouldn't even be able to light a cigarette because the copyright of all fire-related magic is held by the Flame Demon King. Until you obtain the copyright through a contract, you cannot even produce a spark.
Having mingled in the Magic realm for so long, Constantine could almost determine the copyright source of any magic, simply by the traces it left behind, allowing him to identify which entity a mage had contracted with.
But this time he encountered an exception. The contractor of this Necromancer was not Duke Skeleton, and the magic and its application were very strange, not fitting any known form of magic.
This immediately drew Constantine's attention.
In Constantine's view, vampires weren't really such a big deal. Possessing the ability to transform Zatanna was indeed somewhat impressive, but although her defensive magic was strong, she herself lacked social experience— capsizing in a ditch was not impossible for her.
Therefore, compared to vampires, this Necromancer, who suddenly appeared using peculiar undead magic, interested Constantine more.
So, he followed the traces all the way to the base where Arkham Knight and Necromancer Doctor Strange were located.
At this moment, there were three people in the base. Constantine, who was sneakily observing from outside, confirmed that two of them bore traces of magic; apart from Moonlight, whom he had seen before, the other was the thin, long-faced mage.
Constantine had never seen him, more importantly, he had not seen the energy that the man carried or the way he manipulated puppets, which made Constantine realize that the other might be a visitor from another cosmos.
Necromancy is actually a very dangerous type of magic, and Duke Skeleton's contractual partners are few, because there are not many who can manipulate the dead, and the complex principles of magic involved give Constantine a headache.
But it seemed that the long-faced fellow was very adept at using the Undead Manipulation Technique and could even be considered wasteful; he actually used the summoned undead creatures as porters!
Most of the bosses holding magic patents are very stingy, charging not only per use but also exacting a heavy toll every time, otherwise Constantine would not have accumulated so much debt.
How could this guy be so at ease?
Harboring such doubts, Constantine decided to test the waters, but he was worried about the guy called Moonlight; even with his formidable magic, Constantine was still human, and all the major losses he had suffered in his life were at the hands of mortals. If he got nailed by that candelabrum, he would not be able to escape today.
So Constantine came up with a plan; he created an Ash Avatar to stand guard at the entrance while he himself stayed further away, making some noise and pretended a vampire invasion was taking place.
As expected, the guy called Moonlight and the one wearing armor quickly went out to check the situation, while Constantine's avatar walked in casually and communicated with the Necromancer, Doctor Strange.
The reason it wasn't his main body that came to find the mage was because, in Constantine's estimation, this guy was likely more difficult to deal with than the other two; necromancy was too bizarre to not be cautious of.
However, he completely misjudged the situation.
Compared to the magicians in the DC Universe who struggled, Doctor Strange did have some leisure, but he wasn't very strong among them. His energy was limited, he had been beaten up before, and his wounds hadn't fully healed, so all his summoned creatures combined couldn't beat Constantine.
But the two stars that chased after him were a different story; although Moonlight Shiller was again sealed by Khonsu with Moonlight Energy, because he had been resisting treatment, the burns from the high-powered UV lamps hadn't fully healed, and under the stimulation of pain, his strength had increased significantly.
The Arkham Knight was strong to begin with, a master who could go back and forth in a fight with Batman of the Akham World. After arriving here, he had been clearing up small-fry and had not encountered any decent opponents, making him quite frustrated.
Constantine sneakily created a bunch of vampire illusions, but as soon as Moonlight landed, all were exposed. His hiding spot wasn't very secure, and he was immediately spotted by the Arkham Knight, who nearly blew his head off with a sniper bullet.
Constantine rolled out of his hiding place in a bit of a mess, but as they say, he truly was a (colorful) hobgoblin; seeing the Arkham Knight holding a sniper rifle, his first reaction wasn't to run, but to look him up and down and take the opportunity to keep staring.
To be fair, although Dick's butt has been referred to as DC's treasure, Jason's isn't bad either, especially in the Arkham Knight attire, which could be counted as the height of Jason's fashionable appearances across the issues.
Perhaps it was due to the character modeling, but Jason in the Arkham Knight game is among the tallest and most well-built in all the universes, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs.
The Arkham Knight wasn't wearing his usual silver and black battle suit today, but instead, a dark blue armor set with fewer mechanical parts.
The upper body was clad in a tight, dark blue leather shirt, with carbon-black armor plates covering the chest, shoulders, elbows, and hands. The waist was laden with chains, magazines, and gear, while the legs were in a black, blue, and red camouflage pattern, with metal armor over the knees and feet.
His helmet was also blue, with silver and black metal plates extending from the jaw to the temporal bones, two sharp ears sticking up at the top, and eyes glowing blue. It gave him an inhuman look, almost like an evil robot.
But wouldn't you know it, Constantine had a taste for exactly this sort of thing.
So when he popped out of hiding and caught his first glimpse of the Arkham Knight, he inhaled sharply and whistled at him, saying, "Damn, the kid's got an amazing figure!"
To tell the truth, Jason had never been teased like this before—or rather, this Jason's life had been relatively innocent. He was picked up by Batman when he was very small, then kidnapped by the Joker, and the next thing you know, he's in a showdown with Batman. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say he was naive about the world.
So when faced with the first line from this guy who might be an enemy, he was stunned.
It was quite evident that the Arkham Knight was dazed for a good two seconds, like a computer that had frozen, and if emotions had a physical form, there would likely be a loading icon spinning wildly above his head right now.
But Moonlight Shiller wasn't about to indulge Constantine. Just as Constantine finished that remark, a golden candelabra was thrust his way, and he ducked and yelled, "Alright, I should have complimented you too, you're not bad either, buddy!"
Suddenly snapping back to reality, the Arkham Knight was seething with rage.
The following scene is hard to describe in words. By the time Shiller and Dick arrived, Constantine was covered in blood, with seven or eight bullet holes and a big gash in his thigh.
Considering that he was at full strength and could use magic with virtually no restrictions, to be beaten to such a state meant that the Arkham Knight must have really lost his cool.
Although Shiller had arrived, he didn't show himself right away. He and Dick were looking down from the rooftop of a nearby building.
Dick clicked his tongue and said, "He really had it coming, but who's that robot with the pointy ears?"
"Who do you think he is?"
Dick sized him up from head to toe. Although the guy's style was somewhat reminiscent of Cyborg, he appeared to be a Caucasian from his body structure. Those pointy ears were somewhat similar to the Bat Armor, but clearly the symbol on his chest wasn't a bat.
"I guess he's a Batman fan, but a poor imitator," Dick said. "That gear looks high-tech and suits him well, but it doesn't seem very practical. Won't he end up stabbing himself in a fight?"
"He's Jason Todd," Shiller said.
Dick nearly choked on his own spit, pointing at the Arkham Knight, who was still chasing after Constantine, he gasped, "Who?? Jason???"
"What's going on now?"
"How much water does his brain need to soak up to dress like that? Is he really not afraid of getting beaten up by Batman???"
"Maybe that's exactly why he's dressing up, to fight Batman." Shiller briefly narrated the Arkham Knight's history in this universe to Dick.
At first, Dick was avidly interested, but then his expression turned to mild disapproval, and eventually, it became almost indescribable.
"It's hard for me to picture the guy you're talking about as Batman. Can't he see that what Jason really cares about is that not long after he disappeared, Batman found a new sidekick? He always emphasizes what use is there if he couldn't find him. If he had just explained Tim's situation earlier, there's no way they would have ended up fighting," Dick said, shaking his head. "And what's wrong with the me in that universe? Why couldn't I make a phone call to both of them? The problems I've encountered within the Batman Family have been a lot more complex than this, but everyone is grown up, even Damian, who can understand, as long as you talk to him properly."
"That's just the style of their universe," Shiller said. "Put on your mask. He should still be fuming now; don't provoke him when you meet."
"I never provoke Jason. It's mostly Damian who causes trouble, knowng full well that he has a quick temper, yet he still keeps buzzing around him..."
While walking down with Shiller, Dick also kept an eye on the street below, and soon he understood why the Jason who looked like an evil robot was on the warpath.
Constantine realized he couldn't escape and slumped behind a café corner, opening his arms towards the Arkham Knight and saying,
"Come on, baby, send me to hell with that big gun of yours, or make me feel so good I reach heaven, hahaha!"