Of course, this opening might sound like a classic line from the last unfortunate incident with the Gotham owls, but one Joker in this world would never plagiarize another.
Joker Schiller turned into the Clown Cat, changing his game, he created real riddles, though, of course, all the answers were "meow, meow, meow." In a city of cats, what other answers could there be?
This might sound absurd and bizarre, but these owl monsters disguised as cats are not human. They have a certain amount of intelligence but lack humanity. Such toys aren't any Joker's taste. Clown Cat Schiller has merely come to go through the motions.
After these owls were exterminated, the Dark Owl Ritualist, still puzzled about where all the accumulated energy had gone, soon realized that the Dark Owl Sacrifices, who had just discovered their home was gone, would want to preserve their other home and thus returned to their base in Metropolis.
Upon returning, they found no abnormalities. The owl statues were intact, the cats were still there, and there were no signs that anyone had been there. Apparently, Constantine and Hal's cleanup work was very good, particularly Hal, who could use the Green Lantern energy to reshape objects. He had even blocked up the hole Clark had blasted and the one next to the room.
These Dark Owl Priests didn't notice anything unusual, except that one of the cages had been opened and a cat had disappeared. However, they didn't catch cats themselves, so it was impossible for them to remember every cat. He assumed the cage hadn't been closed properly, and the cat had run away. He didn't think much of it.
The leading Priest raised his magic wand. His hand, like the claw of an owl, was covered in circular patterns and tipped with sharp nails. In a sharp voice, he declared, "Someone has destroyed our arrangement in the dreamworld. We must retake the position!"
As they each returned to their positions and formed a circle around the owl statue, all raised their magic wands and began to chant a spell: "Muliz...Muliz..."
From a spirit vision perspective, black flames began to burn on the statue. Tree-branch owls circled above it, emitting piercing cries. Then they soared into the sky and dived down into the bodies of the cats in the cages on the ground.
When the owls dived in, they indeed disappeared into the cat's body. However, no owls appeared in Cat City Gotham. Or to be more precise, very few did. Out of the more than 100 owls that went down, it was good if two made it.
These Ritualists had a special way of sensing the situation in the dreamworld, and they thought there was a problem with their spell. Thus, they adjusted their positions, recited the spell again, even moved the cat cage on the ground, and marked it anew - but all to no avail.
They had been preparing this plan for a very long time, all to obtain the Dream of a Thousand Cats. In their view, this plan could not allow for failure. The effort they had put in previously could not be wasted.
Furthermore, those who resisted their rule were just a few cats, not the owner of the Dream of a Thousand Cats or any other more powerful gods or devils. If they couldn't defeat others, surely they could defeat a few cats?
They believed that even if just a few out of a hundred owls made it in, it would take only a few dozen to handle a few cats. Thus, if they threw in thousands of owls, it wouldn't matter. They had accumulated quite a bit of energy from operating in Metropolis for such an extended period; a few thousand owls didn't mean much to them.
At first, the battle in Cat City Gotham was not intense. The primary fighters included the real Bat Cat, Bane Cat, Crocodile Cat, and other local cats, and Joker Schiller, disguised as the Clown Cat. Neither the white cat that Marvel Schiller had transformed into nor Clark Cat made a move.
This led the Owl Priests to mistakenly judge the combat power of the Cat City rebels, and when they found that the few dozen owls they had sent in were no match for all these cats, they had already sunk a great deal into this.
If only two or three out of a hundred owls could get in, then getting dozens in would require thousands of owls. Even after they deployed thousands of owls, the situation on the battlefield didn't improve. Therefore, the Dark Owl Priests decided to invest a large amount of power at once, to start a decisive battle and instantly destroy the enemy's fighting forces.
This tactic had worked in the past because they were only fighting a few cats on the other side. The other cat city residents, even if they dared to resist, were unable to form an effective fighting force. So, they gritted their teeth and deployed tens of thousands of owls at once, which added up to a few hundred owls attacking Cat City.
For Cat City Gotham, these few hundred owls already had more energy than the giant owl from before, but the battle had only just begun because now Clark Cat had entered the fray.
Even if Superman was holding back his powers, he was not something any ordinary fish could shake. Moreover, before entering, Clark was filled with suppressed fury because of the cats' pitiful conditions. He dived down, rushed to the giant owl's feet, grabbed its claws, and lifted it into the air.
Then, the owl became the blade of a three-speed rotating fan. It was first spun dizzily before being thrown away. Then it was caught in the sky with a combo of cat uppercuts. After Clark Cat accumulated enough power, he made a direct Earth throw. With a 'bang,' the owl dissipated into nothingness.
The giant owl broke into several smaller owls. The Priest in the real world saw this and realized it wouldn't work. They had already paid such a high price. If they were to pull out now, it would be a significant loss. Only by increasing their commitment and seizing the Dream of a Thousand Cats could they possibly cure this crazy cat.
They began to use the Dark Statue to output energy at full power. Instantly, the number of owls in the dreamworld increased to over a thousand. All the residents of Cat City were spurred to rise against this darkness, and the battle became tense.
After holding on for half a day, the Dark Owl Ritualists realized that the mysterious disappearance of the majority of the owls was not a coincidence but a trap.
At first, they were worried about their preparations in the dreamworld being immediately destroyed and had overlooked the necessity of thinking things through. But when they figured it out, they immediately planned to cut off the energy investment and thoroughly check what exactly was wrong with these cats.
Up to now, the losses can still be deemed acceptable. A few thousand or tens of thousands of owls seem numerous, but given their small size, the energy lost isn't much. If the sacrifices are stopped timely, it would take only about a month to recover the lost energy.
However, Constantine and Hal, who had been waiting beneath the room, would not give them that opportunity.
Constantine's primary purpose of hiding under the room and setting up the magic array was not about the few hundred or thousand owls. To him, it was insignificant, as his work payment in Gotham was dozens to hundreds of times more.
His real goal was to observe how this sacrificial ceremony works. With the saying 'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime' in mind, Constantine planned to understand the principles of this ceremony, and then directly extract the energy from the owl statue.
The moment the owl ritualist decided to withdraw, Constantine confirmed that he had grasped the principles on how the energy was extracted and stored. He then called upon Hal, and they emerged from the ground.
When Constantine appeared, a shower of demon flames fell from the sky. Apparently, another old friend of his had fallen incredibly unlucky within that time. Nonetheless, it looked impressively heroic.
As his coat landed, the flame rose simultaneously. With a wave of his magically shining hands, the magic array floated off the ground, and several energy channels, fluttering in the wind like vines, formed ropes and attacked the dark owl ritualist.
Backed by a huge amount of energy, the dark owl ritualists were fearless. They formed an array and lifted their magic wands; with low and dark chants, their robes fluttered without wind.
They were then beaten down by Green Lantern Hal and Clark who had just awakened, who were both filled with energy.
Honestly, being dealt with by the likes of Ion Hal and Superman Clark was a tremendous honor for these villains. Along with Constantine— who had just sacrificed an old friend—this trio could even walk around Apocalypse Star, impressing all.
Unsurprisingly, these ritualists were slaughtered on the spot. Superman does not kill, but once these ritualists removed their robes, they no longer resembled humans. Even comparing them to owls would be offensive to the owls.
Their faces had sprouted feathers and their eyes and mouths greatly resembled owls. But their necks revealed human bodies. However, their hands had transformed into owl claws, and the same went for their legs.
Although the rest of their trunk had human structures, many parts had already rotted due to the invasion of dark energy. Clearly, they had been using their bodies to purify this dark energy.
They were no natural deities like the Asgard people who could easily digest energy as solid as pebbles. The consequences of swallowing too many pebbles was turning themselves into an abominable form, neither human nor ghost.
Picking up their magic wands, Constantine started to kill them one by one. Clark, who was still angry, pretended not to notice this as he busied himself with opening the cages and rescuing the cats that were still alive.
And the first thing Schiller did upon returning from the dream world was to stop Constantine from this killing. He outstretched his hand and said, "Stop! Leave some leeway for the future..."
Constantine stood up, brandishing his magic wand and said, "Where do you intend to hold them? How do you plan to make them obey you and help you get this type of energy?"
Schiller immediately rushed forward, trying to cover Constantine's mouth. As soon as these words slipped out, both Hal and Clark eyed Schiller. Undoubtedly, such an operation was somewhat shocking.
"Don't listen to him. I didn't think about doing this!" Schiller immediately denied. Hal snorted coldly, ignoring the statement. Clark lowered his head to look at the cats whose deaths had been a pathetic sight, took a deep breath, and convinced himself that he was dizzy from overexertion and hadn't heard what had been said.
Constantine chuckled and waved the magic wand forcefully. With a "bang", he killed the struggling dark owl ritualist next to him, saying, "You seem to underestimate me. Having observed for so long, I have already figured out what's going on."
"Indeed, they are praying to a mysterious entity for energy. But to cleanse this energy, they have to surrender their flesh and souls, which means..."
Schiller and Constantine both lowered their heads, looking at the bodies of the dark owl ritualists that were scattered about on the ground. Schiller continued Constantine's sentence, ".....they are just consumables. More owls are lurking deeper within the darkness."
Constantine took a deep breath and looked at Schiller, asking, "Among the enemies I've handled, only a few are as cunning as they are. Are you sure you want to wage war against them?"
Schiller lifted his head and gazed at the giant owl statue, saying, "Do you know what I fear the least? Enemies that take multiple forms."
"Because, the more enemies there are, the more of 'me' there are."