"How heartless," John Constantine spoke somewhat jokingly, completely unfazed by Meg's sudden shift to business. "Weren't we just chatting quite nicely? Why bring up such a cold, formal transaction?"
If he could get something for free, why would he pay? Moreover, what the other party wanted wasn't his money, but his soul.
"The information I just gave you... consider it a gift from me," Meg said, her red eyes gleaming in the dark. "It can also be considered repayment for the 'opportunity' you gave me by exorcising me all those years ago. But for the next phase—for the specific things you need to know—you'll have to pay a price. This is the standard conduct that a Crossroads Demon must master."
Meg's expression was calm as she gently exhaled a puff of smoke. She looked exactly like a heartless scumbag who leaves right after getting what they want.
"So, you summoned me today..." Meg smiled, leaning forward. "...wanting to know or obtain what?"
"What happened to this town?" Constantine asked, his tone dropping its playful edge.
Dealing in such supernatural matters had always been Constantine's specialty. As everyone in the occult world knows, John Constantine never keeps his word. Not to mention, legally binding speaking, he was currently 'Tony Stark'. Therefore, he posed his question to Meg without any hesitation or fear of the price.
"This town?" Meg looked back over her shoulder at the desolate road and showed a look of dark realization. "It was just an accident, really. The location of this town happens to be at a natural intersection of Hell and reality. A while ago, some major events happened on Earth. You should know about them."
Speaking to this point, Meg's tone paused; even she hadn't expected it. The waters of Earth were so deep. A single battle could actually make the entire continent tremble. The catastrophic power displayed by those two people—Meliodas and Escanor—was already fully sufficient to rival the Lords of Hell.
"Hmm, so this matter..." Constantine narrowed his eyes. "...is related to that battle in Washington?"
"Yes, the magical aftershocks of that battle," Meg confirmed. "The sheer density of the power released caused several massive cracks to appear in the planetary defense barrier of the Sorcerer Supreme's Sanctum Sanctorum. You should know that no matter which Lord of Hell it is... they all covet Earth. Taking advantage of the sudden appearance of those magical cracks, it seems a few big shots reached some kind of temporary agreement. They had a great clash with the Sorcerer Supreme's forces. In the chaos, Mephisto released countless lesser demons under his command to slip through the cracks."
Meg pointed a manicured finger at the dirt road.
"And this town... is the exit."
After finishing this piece of intelligence that was currently common knowledge among all demons in the Pit, Meg looked at the British occultist with a hungry smile.
"Is the deal struck?"
"Yes, it is," Constantine nodded, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"You really are a generous client," Meg smirked, stepping backward as the shadows began to swallow her. "See you in ten years... Tony Stark."
After saying that, Meg's figure disappeared into thin air without any warning.
"Are demons really all this easy to fool?" Wade Wilson, who had been standing idly to the side, quickly walked to Constantine's side. He spoke with genuine, bored disappointment regarding the procedural errors. "She didn't even take out a contract! You know, like that kind of burning parchment in the movies where you have to sign in blood?"
"Since when were contracts such inconvenient things?" Constantine scoffed, turning away from the crossroads. "As long as both parties verbally agree to the terms, the magical contract is complete."
"So, you just sold your soul like that?" Wade gasped dramatically, clutching his chest. "Constantine, I misjudged you. You didn't even try to haggle!"
Wade stood beside him, winking and gesturing wildly. He teased the occultist idly, not taking this matter to heart at all. The John Constantine he knew could absolutely never be this trustworthy or self-sacrificing.
"Who said I was the one who signed the contract with her?" Constantine smirked, unlocking the door of a beat-up sedan. "Didn't you hear what name she called me?"
"Ah! As expected, this is the Johnny I know," Wade showed a look of profound, approving realization. He knew that a legendary jerk like John Constantine would absolutely not complete a demonic transaction honestly.
"Where are we going now?" Wade asked, hopping into the passenger seat. "This kind of self-funded investigation... why should anti-heroes like us have to do it? The Avengers aren't even paying us a salary."
"You're right," Constantine agreed, turning the key in the ignition. "So, what we need to do now is wait. Wait for the person who pays us to arrive."
After saying this, John Constantine looked directly up at a hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance camera mounted on a nearby utility pole. He gave a slight, cheeky smile and a two-finger salute to the lens, then led Wade into the car and drove casually away into the night.
The video playback ended, the holographic projection blinking to black.
Inside the Avengers Tower living room, the four heroes looked at the empty space in stunned, suffocating silence.
After a long pause, Tony Stark was the first to speak.
"Does S.H.I.E.L.D. really have hidden cameras in every godforsaken dirt crossroad in America?!" Tony demanded, throwing his hands up. "Who were you even trying to monitor in a place like that?!"
"I thought the absolute first thing you'd be worried about was your own soul being sold to Hell," Natasha gave a helpless, dry laugh, completely ignoring Tony Stark's deflective question.
Anyone who just found out their soul had been sold to a Crossroads Demon by a British con-artist wouldn't have a good look on their face. After Natasha brought it up, Tony Stark's expression became incredibly dark, his jaw clenching.
He didn't fully understand the mechanics of demons, but he understood John Constantine. He had been mentally prepared for whatever this bastard might do to annoy him. But Tony Stark really hadn't expected that this trench-coated scumbag would sell his soul directly to Hell to pay for an information gathering fee.
'Fortunately,' Tony thought, rubbing his temples, 'there are still ten years to figure out how to break the contract.'
Forcing himself to pivot, Tony Stark turned the topic back to the part of the video that concerned their actual duties.
"Did everyone in Point Town die?" Tony asked grimly.
"Yes," Clint answered, his arms crossed. "We've already investigated the perimeter. Everyone is dead. Total wipeout."
"So, our enemy this time..." Dr. Banner, who had been listening silently all along, finally spoke up, letting out a deep, exhausted sigh. "...is demons?"
They had finally managed to deal with Meliodas and rebuild their lives. Before they could even have a few months of peaceful existence without world-ending threats, they had to start fighting literal demons from Hell? This was certainly not a good thing for the Hulk's stress levels.
"Let's go," Tony said.
"Regardless of anything... this is our responsibility."
With immense honor comes immense responsibility. This was something everyone in the room knew. Because of the Meliodas incident, the Avengers had become the most heavily supported superhero group in the eyes of the public. It was also because of this unprecedented trust that, under the direct authorization of Congress, they had formally obtained the ultimate authority to manage and neutralize supernatural events.
Tony Stark was the first to don his armor. Although Dr. Banner hated fighting, he could only follow Natasha and Hawkeye onto the Quinjet.
"Are you sure we aren't walking straight into a trap?" Wade asked, looking at the heavily armed checkpoint ahead. "Don't you want to make money?"
Wade and John Constantine stood by their parked car, staring at each other.
Wade never would have expected that John would drive them directly to a heavily fortified S.H.I.E.L.D. outpost. Everyone on Earth knew that S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers were joined at the hip.
They had just sold the soul of the Avengers' leader to a demon.
And now, Constantine was turning right around to run directly to the victim's front door, actively wanting the victim to hand him a massive paycheck for his consulting services.
'Classic Constantine,' Wade thought, shaking his masked head in sheer awe.
Even Deadpool felt he couldn't compare to that level of shamelessness.
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