In a parallel universe with some obscure designation, the team sent to seize Rumlow's materials met their end, contact lost.
"Ancient One, do all the demons in this world's Hell look like that?"
Bul-Kathos, leading Jill down the street, broke the silence with a question.
"Ugh, looks like I need to have a chat with Satan."
Ancient One stepped out of a yellow portal, the surroundings instantly enveloped in a dimensional pocket.
Only a grotesque, drooling demon remained in the distance, alongside Bul-Kathos and Jill.
"You call these demons?"
Bul-Kathos felt these creatures insulted his expectations of demons.
To him, even arming Jill with the shoddiest legendary weapon would let the teenager wipe out this pathetic lot.
His voice carried no restraint, and the demons, as if offended, roared back at him.
"These barely sentient things are probably just cannon fodder."
Ancient One offered a weary explanation.
She had no desire to defend demons, but in Bul-Kathos's presence, these didn't even qualify as fodder.
The demons charged toward them, tongues flailing wildly in a comical display of frenzied chaos.
Jill stood by Bul-Kathos, watching with curious eyes.
"Forget it. I'm not in the mood to clean up trash."
Bul-Kathos pulled a bottle from his pack, taking a swig.
He hadn't yet tired of this world's liquor, sparing him the need to cut himself and chug a blood potion.
Ancient One stepped forward, casually extending her left hand. A flash of brilliant white light left only ash scattered on the ground.
"What about this Satan you mentioned? Is he tough?"
Bul-Kathos gulped his drink, mumbling through the liquor.
"It's not about toughness. He dresses like a lawyer, fat, not warrior-like, very polite. Shame I didn't have my butcher's knife last time we met, or I'd have stuck him a few times."
"Pfft!"
Jill burst out laughing at Ancient One's description, unable to picture a polite, chubby lawyer as Satan, the lord of Hell.
Ancient One didn't comment on his laughter. Most wouldn't imagine Satan like that.
Nor would they picture Mephisto as an elderly gentleman strolling this world.
"So, not tough then."
Bul-Kathos sounded disappointed. Since pummeling that punching bag Dormammu, he'd started to regret it.
Finding a foe worth stretching his muscles against was rare in this world.
He drained the bottle and tucked the empty into his pack.
"If the demons are this weak, the angels aren't worth getting excited about either."
Bul-Kathos muttered.
He found himself missing Diablo. If he could do it over, he'd drag out their fight longer.
At least then, he could've sparred a few more rounds with his own shadow in that demon's domain.
The dimensional pocket dissolved, and Ancient One vanished with the fading portal.
Lately, her heavy-handedness had stirred unrest among other-dimensional beings.
They were starting to cause trouble, keeping her busy.
"Manny? You still there?"
Constantine sat on the curb, calling out the angel's name.
A pile of cigarette butts nearby suggested he'd been there a while.
"Sir, if you're separated from your friend, I can help."
A patrol officer approached cautiously, hand on his gun.
Constantine looked like he was high, muttering "Manny" under his breath, anything but normal.
"Officer, I'm not interfering with your work, am I?"
Constantine peered through half-lidded eyes, his half-dead demeanor unchanged.
"I think you might need some help."
The officer, halfway to drawing his gun, advanced with a stern expression.
"Manny, tell me what's going on."
"You're talking to—Constantine, now's not a good time for me to show up."
The officer's words were cut off as Manny possessed his body.
"The rules Heaven and Hell both follow?"
Constantine's face twisted into a sly grin, as if mulling over something amusing.
"We can't unleash our power in the human world…"
"Because of the Sorcerer Supreme?"
Manny nodded, looking uneasy.
Heaven and Hell once had forces to rival the Sorcerer Supreme, but no longer.
The previous Sorcerer Supreme relied on Agamotto's barriers to block powerful angels and demons from descending.
In the human world, she could defeat Hell's lords single-handedly.
But days ago, wielding a strange, squeaking dagger, she'd stormed Hell and given Mephisto "three stabs, six holes, squeak squeak squeak."
Both sides realized they needed a new approach to the human world.
The current Ancient One was no longer the one they knew.
Having left a lasting mark on a Hell-lord, she'd surpassed her former self.
Even before, she was unbeatable in the human realm. Now, she was stronger still.
Angels chose to respect her. Brainless demons, however, planned a bold move to remind her that Hell's lords weren't to be trifled with.
Turn the human world into Hell, let a demon lord bypass Agamotto's barriers, and descend in full.
"Sounds like you're nowhere near equal to the Sorcerer Supreme. More like…"
"Enough, Constantine. Unless you want Mephisto burning you for centuries in Hell's flames after you die, shut it."
Manny's face darkened, his brow shadowed.
Much like Nick Fury's perpetually shadowed brow.
"Looks like the human world's got a stronger ally than you lot."
Constantine's eerie smile widened, needling Manny further.
"Who are you talking to?"
Manny vanished, and the officer resumed, finishing his sentence.
"Dear officer, just a traveler from England. Here's my ID."
Constantine flashed a blank sheet of paper.
"Alright, sir, enjoy your trip. But avoid lingering in this area—it gets rough at night."
Swayed by Constantine's subtle magic, the officer was fully convinced.
(End of Chapter)
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