Chapter 53 Instinctual

(General P.O.V)

"Ahh... replacing this stuff is always a headache."

Constantine said, unwrapping a small bundle of dry ginseng. He removed the trench coat, his shirt had a hole on the torso and the morning air was a bit chilly but that was fine. It was better he wasn't slowed down by anything.

He knelt on the ground, quickly drawing a small magic formation with a triangle in the middle of 3 circles. He placed the ginseng above the formation and chanted, placing his hand open. The Ginseng started burning in a white flame.

A small breeze blew through the park, carrying with it, a single strand of hair to Constantine's open palm. The exorcist grinned. Just because the kid couldn't beat Superman, didn't mean he didn't damage him. No matter how small the damage was.

"With this..."

Constantine begun, only to blink in surprise when the strand of black hair went up in a gray flame.

He looked up, a sneer appearing on his face. Constantine's fingers shook, he needed a smoke to calm down coz this shit was just too funny.

"I've been calling you for the past week. You have the gall to show up now?"

The exorcist demanded.

"Gotham is up in flames!"

The Phantom Stranger did not respond. Instead he stared at the Sheath lying above The Flash.

"So it's true... Fascinating."

The Stranger finally said in a mutter, white eyes widening beneath his hat.

Constantine breathed in. Then let out his frustration with a single breath. Eyes on the mission. Prevent Trigon's arrival.

"What's are you blabbering on about?"

Constantine asked, walking forward while rubbing his chest in pain. That magical backlash was wearing off but he wasn't at his peak.

A clock tolled from afar.

"Constantine, I knew sooner or later we would meet."

The Phantom Stranger finally addressed him.

"Can you recall the Item I relinquished to your care? It's time to use it. The rider will be nearby."

Constantine blinked and the Stranger disappeared. The exorcist snorted.

"Asshole."

Then he reached into his neck, revealing a black necklace with a small vial hanging. Inside was tiny shards of bone that looked like wood.

"This is madness."

Constantine said, shaking his head.

He used his foot to destroy the magic circle he'd drawn on the ground. Change of plans. The kid would likely not be able to lead Superman here. And time was of the essence. With the Stranger advising him to use 'that' it meant he had to hurry up.

(Davian's P.O.V)

"Dammit."

My sight wavered.

Everything was spinning but I could see as the purple strings covering my hands unravelled. Immense exhaustion hit my body from out of nowhere. Turning my head up to watch out for Supes was hard.

The man of Steel's eyes lit up as he watched me.

"Chase, any ideas?"

I called out to my Zanpakuto.

No answer.

Had he... abandoned me? No. That's dumb. It's my Zanpakuto. We're linked.

Still... it was worrying. For the first time in weeks, I couldn't feel him.

Chesha Neko was entirely silent. I was in it alone. But that's how it had always been so I was already used to it.

Realistically, I couldn't block Superman's next attack because a, I was missing the Sheath and b, I fell out of Shikai, which meant no access to my strings.

However. Defeat was far from my mind. Raven was depending on me to make this right. Somehow. If she were here she would be blaming herself for this shit. But it wasn't her fault. I hated that this world was like this. Unforgiving and cruel.

Dishonest too, my expectations of a hero like Batman were different. The Justice League was supposed to be the good guys but so far, I wasn't convinced. I couldn't see the good. If there was anyone to blame for this...it was the League. It was...Batman.

Speaking of which, Superman was content to watch me stumble a step forward.

There.

Chesha Neko lay clattered on the ground before me. I reached for it and got to my feet. I wasn't a swordsman but I'd been forced onto this path. If I was going to fall, I would do it with my sword in hand.

Bravado aside,things were still bad. I had no energy to perform a Kido or escape with Shunpo. I still had enough energy to reinforce my body completely though, so Maybe I could tank the heat beam.

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I breathed out, holding the Long Sword steadily before me.

I could see it in his eyes, this was the Killing blow. He was tired of fighting me. Mad that it had taken this long. So he was determined to end it in the next blow.

Was I scared? No. Look at me, from a simple human being a few weeks ago to tricking the Flash ( of course Jay Garrick was much slower than the other Flash family but still...) to fighting against Superman. Lately, something had been hatching inside me. A new feeling.

"I'm not dying here today."

I promised myself.

"Any last wor..."

He begun.

Then the ground under his feet gave out, the cracked street collapsing into a sink hole.

Of course nothing happened to him, he could fly. But a large open maw belonging to a plant monster shot out and swallowed him.

'Well That was unexpected.'

And also cathartic. I breathed out a sigh that was part relief and part disappointment.

That had been too close. I was prepared to fight and die. It wasn't the first time I'd had my life on the line. But somehow, this time everything had felt different. It had felt impending. As if the collision would have forced me to become something else. To evolve...or die.

I looked at the sky. At the Shrouds hovering above me. What if...what if they had followed me because I was going to die? Suddenly I wanted to run. To escape this...

"Hiya Copkiller!"

Harley greeted me and it was like an electric short went through my body. What the fuck was I saying? Nothing was written in stone. What mattered is that I had to survive. No matter what awaited for me at the end, I had no choice but to move forward.

Fuck all the regrets.

Fuck the fear.

My body protested heavily as I turned around to face my saviors, a tired smile on my face.

"How about now? Still want our help?"

Poison Ivy asked, riding on the head of an animal-plant hybrid creature. She had on an arrogant smirk. What grabbed my attention was her ride.

It's skin was a light purple covered by tree barks. A wild mane of green grass was spread out across the back of it's huge head and neck, going down the spine. It's head resembled an Anaconda. Two fangs shot out of it's mouth as it hissed, staring down at me with green ringed eyes.

"Yeah. I wouldn't mind a little help."

I shrugged but even the action sent pinpricks of pain through my body. However I hadn't lied.

If Superman was the sun in my Reikaku sense, then the Plant Serpent was a supernova. It had these branching networks of energy, that interacted with anything green. It was enough for grass to lightly grow underfoot.

The connection between the Serpent and Poison Ivy was powerful. There was also a minor but denser connection between the Serpent and Constantine who rode on it's back. The Flash was sleeping inside the green dome created by the Sheath. The cocoon had of course disappeared after the strings had unravelled.

Poison Ivy stood on top of it's head like a queen, beside her was Harley who was holding onto the Serpent's horn.

"Yahtzee!" Harley cried out joyfully as she slid from the head of the serpent before skipping towards me.

"You're alive! Yay!"

The enthusiasm she had as she hugged me reminded me of crazy white girls. I mean...

"What happened to the plan?"

I questioned Constantine, pulling myself out of Harley's hold.

"The plan mate, got fucked the minute Trigon decided to hurry up his 'plan'." The magician replied from above the serpent.

"I don't understand." I told them turning away to face our front.

"But we need to take care of him before we talk."

I motioned to the Kryptonian.

Grabbing Harley I pulled the both of us onto the back of the snake with a smooth leap.

"My hero."

She swooned, leaning on me.

I stepped back. She was hot as fuck and closer to my real age. However, never stock your dick in crazy.

The Serpent begun slithering on the street towards Superman who was fighting the other plant monster. The snakes powerful muscles seemed to produce exotic energy as it moved.

Maybe they really could buy me some time as I caught my breath. Of course I couldn't stay out too long. Taking Superman down was priority. And even together it wasn't going to be easy. Otherwise, if we failed to contain him quickly, the fight would balloon to the civilians.

The only problem was that the fight was not going to plan.

No matter how strong a plant could get, Superman had an array of superpowers that were uniquely suited for dealing massive damage. The only thing holding him back were his morals and he was currently not the one in control.

So in his possessed state he was ruthless. He tore off pieces of the vines and vaporized the monstrous plant's bulbous root under his heat vision. The air was filled with shrieks and the smell of burnt kale.

Then he snarled, turning towards us.

"Is that all the power you have! Weak!"

Ivy did not take kindly to that.

"You killed my babies!"

She yelled her eyes glowing green with fury.

"Destroy him!"

Ivy commanded the Serpent and the monster opened it's mouth wide. Energy begun brimming inside it. From within the open mouth, a clear jet of liquid shot out and splattered onto Superman.

"Gah! My eyes!"

Superman floated back, his skin smoking while grabbing his face in pain.

Only loose patches of his costume remained, most of it having been eaten through and dissolved by the strong acidic venom.

"Careful with that."

Constantine called out in a warning.

"Poison from the spawn of the Mid-gardian serpent is very dangerous. Too much and it will spread out across Gotham like it's eating through flesh. I wouldn't have summoned it if it wasn't necessary."

He informed the plant Supervillainess.

"You said that already. Stop bugging me or I'll kill you."

Ivy shot back, annoyed.

Spawn of the Mid-gardian serpent huh? Interesting.

"Our priority is to get through him and enter the dome. Follow the plan Ivy."

Constantine insisted.

"You have a plan?"

I asked Constantine.

"What went wrong with ours? I was getting my ass kicked out there as distraction for you."

He patted me.

"First rule about this gig Lad, whether you're on the side of light or darkness, always adapt. And if you can't, learn how."

Adapt huh?

Adapting meant improvising on the spot. You see a problem and you find a way to deal with it.

What was holding me back? Nothing.

I grabbed the Sheath off the Flash and immediately, my exhaustion abated. Internal injuries begun healing and my Reiryoku started replenishing faster. Yes. Adapt.

Constantine looked at me with an undecipherable expression.

At the same time Superman broke the sonic barrier as he dropped towards us. Ivy swept out a hand and along with the horn on the head of the Serpent glowing, sharp wooden spikes shot out of the ground speeding towards the enemy. Superman barrelled through them, leaving behind sawdust.

"Here we go. "

Constantine said, using a small stick to draw a sentence of weird symbols on the back of the Serpent. Then he spoke. The language sounded like bells and whistles and the roaring of beasts. It made my ears hurt. The craziest part was that I could just barely understand what it was.

"Enochian script."

I muttered.

Constantine finished chanting and the symbols lit up. There was a sudden cooling breeze around us. Superman increased his speed and collided straight through the Plant Serpent. But instead of getting hurt, the serpent unravelled into a green wind and us with it.

The spell Constantine had used had turned all our molecules into structured air format. Superman passed through us with a confused look on his face. The Serpent wound up to face him releasing another acid breath. However, this time it came out in a mist that blocked his visibility.

And just like that, the Man of Steel lost.

We won.

How?

I'll explain, after Constantine's spell, for a second I was without a body.

I realized two things while in that form. First, my body was holding me back. I came to this conclusion because my Reikaku range was increased without a physical vessel limiting it. Without a physical body, I could sense the entirety of Gotham.

I could sense Raven.

She was the Black Dome.

And secondly, Constantine was a master Strategist. He had positioned Superman in the perfect spot for a Kryptonite arrow to shoot from the roof of one of the few buildings still left standing.

The shot was made by Green Arrow with Catwoman standing by his side. And it speared right through Clark's side.

For a second, the Man of Steel stared at me as if he couldn't believe it. Then a dark red ghostly form escaped out through his mouth.

The next part was instinctual.

I raised my sword at it and gave the command.

"Destroy it."

The Shrouds in the air all swooped towards the Spirit...and tore it apart.