John Constantine

themaninanironsuit:

“Unless you want me to fly you there, you can meet us at Stark Tower in New York City.  It’s the big tower with Stark written on the outside,” Tony said smirking.  ”I’ll tell security to bring you straight up to my office.  I’m going to be introducing you to the rest of my team and maybe some others…kind of depends.”

Tony took a deep breath and looked around.  ”Is this really the work of Lucifer?  If this is his jailbreak, I’m not sure I want to know what the rest of his plan is.”

“He couldn’t have done this on his own,” said John.  “He had help.”  He flicked his cigarette butt into the crater.  “I’ll check with with the diocese, but I’m pretty sure I’ll see you in New York in a day or two.”

When the car delivered John to the cathedral, he was ushered into the office of the bishop.  John didn’t sit.  He waited, lighting a cigarette.

“Mr. Constantine.”  The bishop was older and well padded.  He frowned at the cigarette, but didn’t say anything. 

“Lucifer is out.”  He studied the bishop’s reaction.  “You knew.”

“I suspected.”  He sat.  “What can you do about it?”

“Some group called the Avengers is poking around it,” said John.  “I need a ticket to New York and a raise.”

“Yes, yes, of course.  The car will take you to the station.  A ticket will be waiting.  Any thing you need you may contact the New York diocese.  I’ll arrange it.”

The train was unremarkable.  A car was waiting for John at the station.  He had it take him straight to Stark Tower.  Cigarette still lit, he went inside.

((Exit Constantine))

themaninanironsuit:

j-constantine:

John took another long drag then threw down the butt.  He crushed it out with the toe of his shoe as he blew out a long stream of smoke.

“The Church hired me to investigate.  This is their property.  I don’t know what your business here is.  You don’t have a clue about this sort of thing.  Stand back and leave this to a professional.”   John set his case down and took out a small phial.  It was tightly stoppered with a crucifix engraved into the glass.  He worked out the top and poured the liquid into the hole.  It hissed and bubbled when it struck the dirt.

“Damn,” said John.  “Demonic.”

Tony had to smirk at Constantine’s response.  JARVIS popped up a display of his records and Tony read through them.  His methods were unorthodox, but extremely effective.

Tony popped open his mask.  ”Tony Stark, member of The Avengers.  We’re involved in this thing already.  Want to give us a hand?” 

“Give me a minute,” said John.  He took a dagger out of his case and a dark bottle.  With the dagger he drew a circle.  The bottle contained blood.  John used it to draw several symbols in and around the circle.  he set the items aside and chanted in Latin.  Smoke rose from the circle and a small imp appeared.

“Constantine!” the imp snarled.

“Bag it!” John ordered.  “You owe me.  Who’s prison was this?”

“The great lord and master of all demons!  He is free and you are doomed!”  John said something in Latin and the imp screamed before disappearing.

“You’re going to need all the help you can get,” he told Tony.

themaninanironsuit:

j-constantine:

“Constantine.  John Constantine.  Who the hell are you?”  John didn’t know who the guy in the metal suit was.  He wasn’t any type of half breed.  John took a long drag on his cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke.  “Little early for Halloween isn’t it?”

“I’m Iron Man,” Tony said.  ”We’ve gotten some reports about this place and I came to investigate it.”

JARVIS did a facial scan of John Constantine and fed the name and photograph into his data base.  he ran the information search while he continued to calculate and take readings.

JARVIS said, “Calculations on building complete.  It appears the epicentre of the explosion was either at the floor’s surface or just below it.  Whatever took out the building and the surrounding town came from below the building.”

Tony looked at John.  ”Kind of an odd place for someone to have themselves driven to.”

John took another long drag then threw down the butt.  He crushed it out with the toe of his shoe as he blew out a long stream of smoke.

“The Church hired me to investigate.  This is their property.  I don’t know what your business here is.  You don’t have a clue about this sort of thing.  Stand back and leave this to a professional.”   John set his case down and took out a small phial.  It was tightly stoppered with a crucifix engraved into the glass.  He worked out the top and poured the liquid into the hole.  It hissed and bubbled when it struck the dirt.

“Damn,” said John.  “Demonic.”

themaninanironsuit:

Tony was looking at the stonework intently.  ”JARVIS, take some imagining of the stonework and extrapolate a building from satellite images and see how exactly it exploded.”

“One moment, sir,” JARVIS said.

Tony moved around the rubble a bit to give JARVIS more information.

“Sir, we have a person approaching from your 7 position,” JARVIS informed Tony as he calculated,

Tony looked up and turned around.  He saw a dark-haired man looking around and smoking.  ”Who are you?” Tony said after glancing at the external voice indicator.

“Constantine.  John Constantine.  Who the hell are you?”  John didn’t know who the guy in the metal suit was.  He wasn’t any type of half breed.  John took a long drag on his cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke.  “Little early for Halloween isn’t it?”

themaninanironsuit:

Tony sauntered up to the center of his platform.  ”Ok, JARVIS, suit me up,” he said.  Robot arms came up out of the floor and encased him in his Iron Man suit.  He immediately walked forward the moment they were finished and flew into the sky.  He looked at his displays and everything was in the green.

“Ok, JARVIS, we’re on our way to Maryland.” he said kicking up the speed.  ”I want full sensor analysis when we get their.  Every video spectrum we have.  I know what Fury thinks, but I don’t want to miss anything.”

“I understand, sir,” JARVIS replied.

“Also, do life sign scans as we approach.  There has been no one from this town showing up anywhere telling stories, that has me curious.  Satellite pictures make the town look like the Tunguska Blast.  Let’s see if we can find survivors or bodies,” Tony said as he flew.

“Of course, sir, anything else?” JARVIS replied sounding a bit bored and irritated.

“Gimme some traveling music,” he said.  Metallica filled the inside of the suit as Tony flew to Maryland.  JARVIS kept him out of any air traffic as he flew.

JARVIS began scanning for life signs and Tony knew they were close.  He saw the edge of the blast area and it was even more shocking than the pictures had been. Trees were knocked over and their roots were in the air.  Houses and buildings collapsed.  The life sign scan read zero.  ”No life at all?”

“There is the insect and bacterial populations, sir,” JARVIS replied.

“Any signs of bodies at all?” Tony asked.

“None.  Radiation levels are normal.  No signs of any type of chemical, biological, or nerve agents,” JARVIS reported.

“Keep scanning.  I’m going to get a better look at the crater,” Tony said.  He flew toward the hole in the ground.  Chunks of concrete and masonry surrounded the crater.  According to previous images a church stood here prior to the strange event.  Tony circled the area to get good video and photographs.  Finally he landed at the circle of broken stonework.

Tony picked up a piece of stone and did an intense scan of it.  What had happened here?

The car dropped John off at the edge of what used to be a town.  He lit a cigarette and and started walking.  Something big had happened here.  The residue was everywhere.  It was definitely something demonic.  He walked towards the site of the convent.  The silence was almost absolute.  No dogs barking.  No birds singing. The whine of a jet nearby intrigued him. At the edge of the crater where the residue was strongest, he saw a figure in an iron suit.

John Constantine sat at his table smoking.  It was what he did when he didn’t have anything else to do.  A pack and a half a day of some awful Chinese cigarettes was his usual. When there was a knock on his door, he paused to light another one before answering it.

 Father Hennessy was short, heavy, and bald.  He was nervously fingering a medallion around his neck.  The white collar around his neck showed subtle sweat stains.

“Hello, John,” he said.  “I’ve got something for you.”

“Come in.”  John returned to his chair leaving Father Hennessy to close the door.

“Have you ever heard of St. Mary’s Convent in Ilchester, Maryland?” Father Hennessy asked.

“Massacre in ‘72,” John said.  He took a long drag on his cigarette and blew out a stream of smoke.  “They say the priest went insane and killed the nuns in the chapel.”

“Right.  It just blew up and took most of the town with it, but there aren’t any bodies.  Sounds demonic, right?”

“Could be,” John said.  He smoked for a few seconds.  “Who’s the client?”

“The Washington diocese,” Father Hennessy replied.  “They don’t know what to make of it, but they want it taken care of quietly.”

“No more bad press.”  John smirked.  “I’ll need transportation.”

“You leave on the train tonight.  It’s three days to Washington.  You’ll be met.”

“And?”

“It’s a smoking car,” Father Hennessy said.  He handed John a ticket.  “They’ll discuss price when you arrive.”

The train journey was uneventful.  John had only one kind of suit he wore and his bag of working gear.  A man with a sign and a priest met him on the other end of the trip.  John lit up a cigarette before they were even out of the station.

“I’m Father Smith,” said the priest.  “The Archbishop has authorized a payment of $10,000.  Is the amount acceptable?”

“Yeah,” said John.

“Very well.  The car and driver are at your disposal for the length of your stay.”

“Good.  Can I get to the scene today?”

“I think so. It’s not very far at all,” Father Smith judged.

“Let’s go,” John said to the driver.

Cough cough. My name Constantine, John Constantine.  If you know who I am, you know what I do.  For those demons that won’t be exorcised by anyone else, you call me.  Relics a sideline.