Chapter 61: The justice league assemble, Ethan In Gotham.
The swamp air crackled with tension as Batman and Constantine fought off the relentless horde of demons. Each blow and spell they unleashed kept the dark tide at bay, but only barely. The ground beneath their feet churned with muck, and the once-quiet swamp was now an inferno of chaos.
Suddenly, the portal shimmered with an ominous crimson light. The air grew heavy, laced with the sulfurous scent of hellfire. From the glowing rift emerged three towering figures—demon generals of the 15th layer of hell.
The first, Malphas, was a grotesque amalgamation of man and bird, with massive wings of blackened feathers, talons sharp enough to carve stone, and eyes that glowed with an eerie red light.
The second, Zarvok, was a hulking brute of molten rock and iron, with cracks across his body that pulsed with liquid fire. Each step he took left smoldering craters in his wake.
The last, Sytheria, was a lithe and serpentine figure, her skin shimmering like oil on water. Her movements were fluid and hypnotic, and her voice, though silent, seemed to echo in their minds, filling them with whispers of despair.
The three generals surveyed the scene with contempt before charging into battle.
Malphas descended upon Batman, his talons raking the air with deadly precision. Batman rolled to the side, deploying his grappling gun to swing onto a nearby tree. From his elevated position, he launched a barrage of explosive batarangs, but Malphas's wings shielded him from the blasts.
On the ground, Zarvok thundered toward Constantine, each step shaking the swamp. Constantine conjured a wall of ice to slow the behemoth's advance, but Zarvok smashed through it with ease, his molten fists melting the remnants of the barrier. Constantine retaliated with a bolt of lightning, striking Zarvok square in the chest, but the demon only roared and continued his assault.
Sytheria slithered between the two heroes, her movements nearly impossible to track. She lashed out at Batman with tendrils of dark energy, forcing him to split his attention between her and Malphas. Constantine tried to bind her with a chain of fire, but she dodged effortlessly, her laughter echoing through the swamp.
The battle was fierce, with Batman using every gadget in his arsenal and Constantine weaving spell after spell. But the generals were relentless, their strength and coordination threatening to overwhelm the pair.
As the battle raged, the portal flared once more, and a deafening roar silenced the chaos. Emerging from the rift was Prince Bael, a fallen angel of immense power. His form was both majestic and terrifying—his wings were scorched and torn, his once-radiant armor now blackened and jagged. A crown of fire adorned his head, and his eyes burned with unholy light.
Behind him poured the endless hordes of the 15th layer of hell—demons of all shapes and sizes, their screeches filling the night. The swamp seemed to sink deeper under their weight, the ground cracking and oozing with dark energy.
Bael rose into the sky, his wings unfurling with a mighty gust that sent shockwaves through the battlefield. He began chanting in an ancient, guttural tongue, his voice reverberatingthrough the swamp. The sky above Gotham darkened, swirling with crimson clouds as his spell took form.
"What is he doing?" Batman asked, his voice tight with urgency.
Constantine's face was pale, his usual bravado replaced with dread. "He's merging hell with our world. If he finishes that spell, Gotham won't just be a nightmare—it'll be hell."
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Batman activated the distress beacon on his utility belt. The signal pulsed across the globe, a silent call to the Justice League for immediate assistance.
"We can't let him finish," Batman said, his tone unwavering despite the odds.
Constantine nodded, summoning every ounce of power he had left. "Right. You take the generals. I'll try to disrupt the spell."
The Justice League received Batman's distress beacon with immediate urgency. Alerts rippled through their respective systems, signaling that Gotham was under threat. Each member, seasoned and ready, dropped whatever they were doing and set their methods in motion to converge on the dark city.
Superman streaked through the skies from Metropolis, a crimson blur cutting across the clouds. Wonder Woman left her Amazonian training grounds, using her enchanted jet to speed toward Gotham. Aquaman surfaced from the depths of Atlantis, summoning the power of the ocean to propel himself swiftly toward the crisis. Shazam transformed in strike of thunder, ever vigilant, he flew in the air, his speed causing a sonic boom, while The Flash vanished from Central City in a streak of lightning.
Meanwhile, Ethan sat in a sleek conference room at Aegis Tower, engaged in a high-stakes negotiation with senior military officials. They had come to discuss the licensing of the Aether Exoskeleton, a groundbreaking invention derived from predator technology that Ethan's company, Aegis Innovations, had developed.
One of the spokesmen leaned forward, pointing at a set of blueprints displayed on the digital screen. "Mr. Drake, the versatility and power of this exoskeleton are unmatched. Our interest is in securing—"
The beacon's discreet chime interrupted the discussion, resonating through Ethan's neural link with Helios. His demeanor shifted subtly, but noticeably.
"Gentlemen," Ethan said, his tone polite but firm, "I'm afraid I must reschedule. Something urgent requires my immediate attention."
The spokesmen exchanged glances, clearly frustrated but unable to object as Ethan stood, his commanding presence cutting the discussion short.
He exited the conference room and walked briskly to his private office. The moment he entered, the glass panes automatically tinted for privacy. Ethan approached his desk and pressed a concealed button beneath its surface. A soft hum resonated as a section of the office wall slid away, revealing a hidden chamber.
Inside, the Man in White's gear awaited him: the pristine armor, reinforced cape, and the glowing, enigmatic EchoBox. He donned his suit with practiced precision, the advanced components locking into place with a series of soft clicks and hisses. Helios' voice chimed in through his helmet.
"Beacon confirmed. Gotham is in critical condition. Estimated arrival time using EchoBox teleportation: five seconds."
Ethan stood still for a moment, his mind aligning with the task ahead. Then, gripping the EchoBox, he activated its teleportation function. A swirling vortex of energy engulfed him, and in a flash of white light, he was gone.
The military spokesmen outside his office were left puzzled, their discussions abruptly halted. One muttered, "He's always like this. You never know what he's up to."
Ethan materialized in Gotham, the city's oppressive darkness pressing against his senses. His neural HUD instantly lit up with data, mapping the environment and pinpointing the source of Batman's beacon. Glaring at the chaos ahead, he muttered, "Time to work."
Ethan assessed the battlefield with cold precision, observing how Constantine's fiery spells and Batman's relentless use of gadgets kept the demons at bay. But the swarm was relentless, their numbers replenished almost as quickly as they fell. Then his HUD flagged three larger, more formidable figures emerging from the fray—the demon generals.
Each was uniquely grotesque. One wielded a massive flaming scythe, its body exuding molten lava. The second, a towering monstrosity with six jagged wings, emitted bursts of shrieking energy that rattled the ground. The third, a lean, serpentine creature, moved with uncanny speed, its claws crackling with dark lightning.
Ethan's voice came through their comms. "Batman, Constantine, focus on the swarm. I'll deal with the big ones."
Batman responded tersely, "Don't underestimate them. They're unlike anything we've faced."
"Noted," Ethan replied, his tone sharp with confidence.
Ethan sprinted into the fray, the EchoBox humming with latent power in his hand. With a swift motion, he unleashed a burst of white energy that carved through a line of lesser demons, scattering them like leaves in the wind. His entrance drew the attention of the generals, who snarled and converged on him.