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The mystical alarms weren't just warnings anymore they were screams of pain from reality itself as something vast and hungry pressed against the weakened barriers between dimensions. Constantine could feel it through his enhanced senses, a presence that made his borrowed soul recoil in instinctive terror.
"How long do we have?" he asked Brother Voodoo, who was communing with invisible spirits through gestures that spoke of Haitian crossroads and ancient pacts.
"The loa speak in riddles," Jericho replied, sweat beading on his dark skin despite the October chill. "They say the Devourer comes with the turning of the hour, when the barriers grow thin and the hungry void remembers what it has lost." His eyes snapped open, fixing on Constantine with uncomfortable intensity. "They also say it knows your name, John Constantine. It has been hunting fragments of your soul across multiple realities."
The stranger lit another cigarette with infuriating calm, seemingly oblivious to the cosmic horror bearing down on them. "Ah yes, the Devourer. I was wondering when it would make its appearance. Such a persistent entity it's been tracking John's dimensional signature since his reincarnation began."
Professor Walsh stepped forward, her academic instincts overriding the danger of the situation. "Explain. What is this Devourer, and why is it specifically hunting Mr. Constantine?"
"A consequence of soul fragmentation across dimensional boundaries," the stranger explained with the tone of someone delivering a lecture. "When John died in his original reality, pieces of his essence scattered across the multiverse. Most of those fragments found new hosts, new realities to inhabit. But some..." He took a contemplative drag of his cigarette. "Some were consumed by entities that exist in the spaces between worlds. The Devourer is the largest of those entities, and it has developed quite an appetite for Laughing Magician essence."
Constantine felt the blood drain from his face. "You're saying this thing has been eating other versions of me?"
"In a manner of speaking. It consumes displaced souls, growing stronger with each absorption. The John Constantine fragments it has devoured have given it intimate knowledge of your methods, your weaknesses, your deepest fears." The stranger's smile was sharp enough to cut glass. "In many ways, it knows you better than you know yourself."
Dr. Chen was already activating what looked like a high-tech communication device, speaking rapidly into it in government codes Constantine didn't recognize. "I'm calling in federal supernatural response teams. If we're looking at a cosmic-level threat, we need serious firepower."
"Your government resources won't be sufficient," Marcus Dane said grimly. "I've encountered entities like this during my time as a Hell-Lord. They exist outside normal dimensional frameworks, immune to conventional binding techniques." His predatory features had shifted into something approaching genuine concern. "Even the combined might of multiple Hell-Lords would struggle against something that has been feeding on soul fragments for decades."
Brother Voodoo was weaving complex patterns in the air, his connection to the loa allowing him to peer across dimensional barriers. "I can see it approaching," he said quietly. "It moves through the spaces between realities like a shark through water, following the dimensional disturbances you've created like a trail of blood."
Wanda, who had been maintaining her dangerous synchronization with Constantine throughout the conversation, suddenly gasped and staggered backward. Scarlet energy poured from her in uncontrolled bursts as something vast and alien brushed against her consciousness.
"It's trying to make contact," she said through gritted teeth. "Not with me with him, through our connection." Her eyes met Constantine's through the swirling chaos magic. "John, it wants to negotiate."
The workshop fell silent except for the distant sounds of mystical alarms wailing across Manhattan. Constantine felt the weight of impossible decisions pressing down on him like a physical force. Everything that had happened since his arrival in this reality the dimensional instabilities, the chaos magic fusion, even his meeting with the assembled supernatural authorities had been leading to this moment.
"What kind of negotiation?" he asked, though he suspected he wouldn't like the answer.
Wanda's face was pale with strain as she served as a conduit for communication across impossible distances. "It wants... completion. It says it has been collecting pieces of John Constantine's soul for decades, but the collection is incomplete without the prime fragment you." Her voice carried undertones of alien intelligence that made Constantine's skin crawl. "It offers a trade. Your willing cooperation in exchange for sparing this reality from the chaos that your continued existence creates."
Professor Walsh was frantically consulting ancient texts, her scholarly instincts providing context for the supernatural crisis. "Soul completion rituals are mentioned in several grimoires dealing with multiversal entities. The theory suggests that beings fractured across dimensional boundaries can be reconstituted through careful magical procedures." She looked up from her books with obvious concern. "But the process typically involves the destruction of all individual fragments to create a new, unified entity."
"So it wants to kill me to complete its collection," Constantine said with bitter amusement. "Not exactly the most appealing negotiation I've ever been offered."
The stranger was watching the exchange with obvious satisfaction, as if events were unfolding exactly according to his plans. "I should mention that the Devourer's offer comes with additional incentives. It has promised to share its accumulated knowledge of John Constantine variants techniques, experiences, and abilities gathered from dozens of different realities. Quite the comprehensive education in multiversal chaos magic."
Constantine felt pieces clicking into place with the inevitable certainty of a trap springing shut. "You arranged this too, didn't you? The soul fragmentation, the Devourer's hunt, even its timing in arriving here it's all part of your manipulation."
"Guilty as charged," the stranger replied with obvious pleasure. "Though I prefer to think of it as providing opportunities for growth. The Devourer represents a unique chance for you to transcend your current limitations, to become something far greater than any individual John Constantine could achieve alone."
Brother Voodoo stepped forward, his connection to the spirit world providing insights that the others lacked. "The loa speak warnings about this path. They say the entity offers power, yes, but at the cost of everything that makes John Constantine who he is. The unified being that would result from soul completion would possess vast abilities but none of the humanity that gives those abilities meaning."
"And if I refuse?" Constantine asked, though he was already forming plans for exactly that outcome.
Wanda's expression grew grim as she channeled the Devourer's response. "It says refusal is acceptable, but the consequences will extend beyond just you. Your continued existence in this reality creates ongoing dimensional instabilities. Other entities will be drawn here, following the trail of chaos magic you've established. This reality will become a battleground between forces seeking to exploit or contain the changes you've made to local cosmic law."
Dr. Chen had finished her communications with federal authorities and was looking increasingly concerned. "I'm getting reports of supernatural incidents escalating across the Northeast. Whatever this Devourer entity is doing, its approach is causing secondary effects throughout the regional mystical ecosystem."
Constantine looked around at the assembled supernatural authorities, noting the way they were all watching him with expressions that ranged from sympathy to calculation. They understood the implications of the choice he was facing sacrifice himself to protect this reality, or continue existing and accept responsibility for whatever chaos followed.
"There's a third option," Constantine said slowly, feeling the dangerous certainty of inspiration taking hold. "Something the Devourer hasn't considered because it's been thinking like a predator instead of a chess player."
The stranger's expression shifted from satisfaction to something approaching concern. "Oh, John. Surely you're not considering another of your legendary gambles? The stakes this time are somewhat higher than your usual impossible situations."
"That's exactly what I'm considering," Constantine replied, stubbing out his cigarette and meeting the eyes of each assembled authority figure in turn. "But I'm going to need help. Specifically, I'm going to need detailed information about Marvel's Hell-Lord hierarchies and their political relationships."
Marcus Dane's predatory smile returned with genuine interest. "Now that's a conversation I can contribute to. The infernal politics of this reality are quite complex, and there are several entities who might be very interested in preventing the Devourer from completing its collection."
Professor Walsh was already pulling additional grimoires from the workshop's extensive collection. "The comparative demonology texts should provide the theoretical framework. If you're planning to pit Hell-Lords against a multiversal entity, we'll need to understand exactly which beings have both the power and motivation to oppose such a threat."
Constantine felt the familiar thrill of a desperate plan taking shape the kind of impossibly complex scheme that either saved everyone or damned them all beyond redemption. But as he began outlining his strategy to the assembled experts, he couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere in the depths of Hell, something ancient and terrible was already preparing to make its own move in the game.
The Devourer might be hunting him, but John Constantine had never been one to go quietly into any kind of good night. And if Marvel's Hell-Lords were anything like their DC counterparts, they wouldn't appreciate a multiversal entity muscling in on their territory without invitation.
Time to see if the devil they knew was better than the demon they didn't.
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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
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