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The tension in the warehouse was thick enough to cut with a knife, supernatural energies crackling between Strange and Nergal like lightning waiting to strike. Constantine stood in the eye of the storm, feeling the dimensional power he'd absorbed during his botched summoning pulse through his veins like liquid fire.
"Gentlemen," Constantine said, his voice cutting through the charged atmosphere, "before you start tearing reality apart, perhaps we should consider the bigger picture."
Neither Strange nor Nergal moved, but Constantine could see the calculation in their eyes. They were both predators, both used to being the most dangerous thing in any given room. The fact that they were now facing each other had created a volatile equilibrium.
"The demon's presence here is already causing dimensional instabilities," Strange said without taking his eyes off Nergal. "I won't allow it to compound the damage you've already done."
"And I won't allow some jumped-up hedge wizard to interfere with my affairs," Nergal growled, shadows writhing around his massive form. "Johnny Constantine owes me a debt that transcends dimensional boundaries."
Constantine took a step forward, feeling the stolen dimensional energy respond to his will in ways he was only beginning to understand. "Actually, both of you are missing the point. The real question isn't what either of you wants it's what the universe itself is trying to tell us."
He gestured toward the ruined summoning circle, where wisps of otherworldly flame still danced along the spray-painted lines. "I've been here three days, and in that time I've accidentally summoned a demon from another reality, attracted the attention of cosmic enforcement entities, and somehow managed to tap into power sources that shouldn't be accessible to someone like me." Constantine lit another cigarette, the small flame from his zippo seeming almost mundane compared to the energies swirling around them. "That's not coincidence. That's pattern."
Strange's eyes narrowed. "What are you suggesting?"
"I'm suggesting that maybe my presence here isn't the violation of cosmic law you think it is. Maybe it's something else entirely." Constantine took a drag of his cigarette, buying time to think. The dimensional energy was giving him insights he shouldn't have, showing him connections between realities that normally remained hidden. "Tell me, Doctor Strange in all your years as Sorcerer Supreme, have you ever encountered a situation where the multiverse itself seemed to be... arranging events?"
The question hung in the air like incense. Strange's expression shifted from annoyance to something approaching intrigue.
"The abstract entities," he said slowly, "do occasionally intervene in multiversal affairs. But their methods are typically more direct. They don't usually rely on... intermediaries."
"Unless," Constantine said, pieces of understanding clicking into place, "they need someone who operates outside the normal cosmic hierarchy. Someone who's already proven capable of bending rules and finding loopholes in contracts written by beings far more powerful than themselves."
Nergal's laugh was like breaking glass. "You think the universe brought you here on purpose? Johnny, even your ego isn't usually this inflated."
But Strange was looking at Constantine with new eyes, and the Sorcerer Supreme's expression had shifted from suspicion to active interest. "The Vishanti have been... restless lately. Dreams and portents suggesting a convergence of some kind. I assumed it referred to earthly matters, but if multiversal barriers are weakening..."
"Then you need someone who specializes in impossible situations," Constantine finished. "Someone whose entire career has been built on finding ways around cosmic rules and divine mandates."
The warehouse fell silent except for the distant sounds of Brooklyn's industrial district. Constantine could feel both Strange and Nergal reassessing the situation, considering implications that went far beyond their immediate concerns.
"Prove it," Strange said finally.
"What?"
"If you're truly here as part of some cosmic arrangement, prove it. Demonstrate that your abilities in this reality extend beyond dangerous experimentation and dimensional instability."
Constantine grinned, flicking his cigarette butt toward the ruined summoning circle. "You want a demonstration? Fine. But we do this properly controlled conditions, neutral ground. I assume the Sorcerer Supreme has access to appropriate facilities?"
Strange's smile was sharp as a blade. "Indeed I do. The Mirror Dimension should provide adequate... testing space."
Before Constantine could ask what the Mirror Dimension was, Strange began weaving patterns in the air with his hands. The gestures were precise, elegant, speaking of years of training and discipline. But what impressed Constantine was the sheer efficiency of it no wasted motion, no dramatic flourishes, just pure technique applied with surgical precision.
Reality folded.
That was the only way Constantine could describe what happened next. The warehouse around them began to shift and fragment, walls becoming reflective surfaces that showed impossible angles and perspectives. The floor beneath their feet turned mirror-smooth, reflecting not their physical forms but something deeper their astral bodies, their souls laid bare.
"Welcome to the Mirror Dimension," Strange said, his voice echoing strangely in the transformed space. "A reflection of reality where physical laws are more... flexible. Here, intention and will are as real as matter and energy."
Constantine looked around at the kaleidoscopic landscape of reflected surfaces and floating geometric forms. It was like standing inside a broken kaleidoscope, but he could feel the power thrumming through every surface, every impossible angle.
"Right then," he said, cracking his knuckles. "What did you have in mind for this test?"
Strange's smile was positively predatory. "Simple enough. Show me that your presence here serves a purpose beyond chaos and instability. Demonstrate that you can work within this reality's framework rather than simply disrupting it."
The Sorcerer Supreme gestured, and the mirror fragments around them began to shift, forming complex geometric patterns that hurt to look at directly. "I'll create a standard mystical challenge a maze of mirrors and illusions, populated with constructs drawn from various dimensional threats I've encountered. Navigate to the center, overcome whatever guardians you find there, and retrieve the objective."
"Which is?"
"You'll know it when you see it." Strange's expression grew serious. "But be warned in the Mirror Dimension, failure can have permanent consequences. Die here, and you die in reality as well."
Constantine felt the dimensional energy he'd absorbed earlier responding to the challenge, showing him glimpses of possible paths through the maze that was forming around them. But something was wrong the energy felt different here, more structured, as if it were being filtered through frameworks he didn't recognize.
"One more thing," Strange added as the maze solidified around them. "Your demon friend will be joining you. Consider it an additional complication."
Nergal materialized beside Constantine, his massive form somehow fitting perfectly within the maze's twisted geometry. "This should be interesting," the demon rumbled. "It's been a long time since I've had a proper challenge."
Constantine looked at the maze stretching away in all directions, its mirrored walls reflecting infinite versions of himself some confident, some terrified, some showing changes he didn't recognize. At the center of the labyrinth, something pulsed with golden light, calling to him across impossible distances.
"Right then," he murmured, starting forward into the maze. "Let's see what the Sorcerer Supreme considers a proper test."
But as he took his first steps into the mirrored corridors, Constantine caught a glimpse of something in one of the reflections that made his blood run cold. In that alternate version of himself, he wasn't alone standing beside him was another figure, one he'd hoped never to see again.
The First of the Fallen, wearing Constantine's own face and smiling with malevolent satisfaction.
The reflection turned to look directly at him through the mirror, and Constantine realized that his problems in this new reality might be far more complex than anyone including the Sorcerer Supreme had anticipated.
/-\
If you wish to read more and if you like the story don't hesitate to support me because I really get exhausted of this work than check out my Patreon at
" https://www.patreon.com/Its_Zack/ "
Join My Subscribers who are already 10 chapters ahead!
Support the story and get instant Access to +3 More Chapters OR +7 More Chapters OR +10 Chapters if you want! (YOU ARE MISSING A LOT OF SUSPENSE!!😊)