Chapter Text
John spent a few weeks dealing with all the demon cases that popped up after his little universal trip. He really wished he wasn't right about the universe being annoyed at him having a good time, but alas, he knew better than to expect any peace. At least in his home multiverse. Things went awfully well for him in the phantom's universe. Maybe he can treat it like a vacation world?
In any case, when he checked where exactly his marker was, it turned out the sea of ectoplasm was deep in the center of the Earth. Out of curiosity, and just for the sake of being thorough, he did a scan around its limits, just to see if there was any sort of cave or tunnel. By the barest bit of luck (that he was starting to get suspicious of, honestly. Things shouldn't be going this well for him, whether he made his own luck or not) he found a small cave, and there he went to start his tests.
Upon portaling into the cave he was hit with overwhelming heat and the highly concentrated soul magic that was ectoplasm. He was sweating bullets within seconds and the heat made it hard to breathe. God he was glad the phantom's shield blocked all this off; he wouldn't have been able to make a snazzy exit otherwise.
John shuck off his coat and got to work, trying various shield spells. He wasn't surprised when the shields meant for corporeal beings just got eaten straight through. The shields meant for ghosts lasted quite a bit, but eventually the ectoplasm ate through them, making the magic sizzle and pop. Shields for pure energy lasted the longest, though they would still eventually be eaten through. The anger the phantom mentioned was present in the ectoplasm was likely weakening the energy shield somehow. John took note of that, went back to the House, and (worked out a few spells that butchered the energy and spirit ones, came up with a few test designs, and) figured a few spell designs that took pieces from the ghost shields and energy shields and mashed them together like a mismatched jigsaw puzzle. The ghost aspects handled the emotions, the energy aspects handled the sheer power of the ectoplasm. He tested each one, and when he found the draft that worked perfectly well, John smiled to himself. It always felt good to succeed at magic.
Next was figuring out the portal spell. He was going to go back to that universe, nothing would stop him, but he didn't want to have to pass through Limbo each time. Not only was it a waste of time, Limbo was just plain creepy. Far too much of nothing there for John to not get the heebie jeebies.
John put up his new shield spell around him. Immediately he was given relief from the boiling sea of ectoplasm. He wiped sweat off his brow and opened a portal to where he left his marker. Passing himself and the shield through, he found himself before the wound yet again. From this side, he could feel the magic rushing out with heart-beat-like pulses, like a main artery that'd been severed but still had blood.
John needed to specify the location of the wound in his portal spell array for any of this to work. He inscribed the wound’s magical signature and location into the core of the spell, then flew himself into Limbo. He shuddered as he did so. The lack of magic in this place left him feeling watched and vulnerable. That feeling was why most portal spells went through Limbo without actually having the magic user stop in it. This was one train stop magicians usually avoided. He took note of the tunnel and Limbo's own locations and signatures, adding them to the core of the spell, and moved on to the other side.
Passing into the Infinite Realms practically gave John a magical high after being in Limbo. The air around him buzzed with an abundance of magical energy, and John breathed it in with relish. When he reached out to it it almost seemed to say hello, albeit a bit wearily. Maybe it was scared he'd hurt it again? Well, as long as this new spell worked it would never have to worry about that again.
He added this side of the wound to his spell, and then looked over his work. The three points of the wound would be the spell’s core, and the open spaces on either ends would be for where he was and where he wanted to go. Now, all that was left was to test it.
He moved a ways a bit away from the wound itself, then input where he was into the spell's formula. For the outcome, he put the House of Mystery. He took a shaky breath, anticipation making him smile, and fed magic into the spell. A green flash appeared in front of him before a golden portal opened to the front of the House of Mystery.
John smiled. Oh yes, he could work with this.
~~~~~~~~
So.
John was utterly lost. He had no idea where anything was, where anything of import or knowledge might be. He had zero foundation upon which to begin his search and exploration. He could just wander around aimlessly, but given how the way to Pariah's Keep was utterly empty except for rubble, he didn't really think that'd be effective.
The only things he did know were Pariah's Keep, which had the rhyming knight that could send you to a world of your worst nightmares, and the names “Clockwork” and “The Observants”. He supposed he could try introducing himself to them, find out if they liked betting or not (it's how he won the House of Mystery from Father Time after all).
So John took out a needle, prepared a locator spell, drew on the energies around him that would surely know where anyone is, and asked the magic to find him Clockwork. The needle glowed gold and spun around, golden tail of magic trailing behind it, and then it just stopped. Stopped flying, stopped glowing. Curiously, it didn't fall. Whatever it not falling meant, the needle stopping meant it couldn't find Clockwork. John frowned. Well, it seemed this time deity knew how to keep himself hidden, if he wanted.
John raised his eyes in thought, wondering if he should seek out The Observants. . . . Eh, to be honest he didn't quite feel like it at this time. The phantom had also said they don't like interfering unless it's “the end of the world”, so maybe they wouldn't want to talk to John. Not that he certainly wouldn't try. Another day though. Besides, he just had a much better idea for who to look for.
John smirked as he remembered flaming hair, a rich voice that sent chills down his spine, and quite the enjoyable conversation partner. John had told the phantom he would be seeing him again, and most definitely not on accident. The only possible issue was that the phantom didn't have a name. Though, his title should still work just fine.
So John prepared the spell again, this time asking for “the phantom”. What he got in return was the needle lifting and pointing in 3 separate directions, over and over, jolting faster and faster until it broke into 3 pieces, each of them flying off at rapid speeds to the 3 directions the magic couldn't decide between.
John whipped his head in all 3 directions.
He stared wide-eyed at the spot the needle had been.
He blinked.
He was so lucky he could conjure up more needles.
He couldn't recall ever seeing anything like that before. Was there more than one phantom? Well, if this was a world of ghosts that wouldn't be too surprising. But still, the magic should've known which phantom he was looking for. Maybe his phantom wasn't attached enough over the name - well, title - to be identified by it?
Hmm. He'll have to ask if he runs into the ghost, because clearly he won't be finding him. Shame. John was looking forward to surprising the bloke with a visit.
John thought again about how to navigate this place, find somewhere he could get his feet on the ground, both physically and metaphorically. Currently he was using his magic to not fall into the endless green abyss.
So, he was back to his choices being Pariah's Keep and Fright Knight, or The Observants. Time deities that typically prefer to not interact with anyone, or a castle in desperate need of redecoration with a spirit of Halloween that could make you live your worst nightmares and possibly break John's mind again?
. . . Well, the castle probably had a library, right? And tyrant kings usually had loads of treasure so there was probably some artifacts worth finding there.
Yeah, he would probably regret this, but it seemed like the better option.
So John looked up at the endless abyss he'd come down last time, aware of the wound behind him. Yeah, he wasn't taking the long way this time. John raised his hands, felt the apprehension the magic held around him, and said a spell asking the Realms to take him to Pariah's Keep. He felt something like a sigh of relief, a nod of approval, and a golden portal rimmed in green opened before him. Through it he could see that terribly designed castle, and he smirked. Nice what the Realms could get you when you weren't actively hurting it.
He went through the portal, and found himself standing on solid ground, finally able to let go of the magic that he had been using to keep himself stable and moving. He looked up at the towering Keep and grimaced. It was so much uglier up close. John sighed and stepped forward to the entrance.
He paused, and hummed. Maybe a little invisibility spell would do. He didn't feel like tempting fate with the Fright Knight. John cast it, and then tried to push open the front doors. When he placed his hand on the door, it went right on through.
“Huh.” John tilted his head. “That's interesting.” He slowly continued forward, watching the door distort into rippling blue energy where his body touched it. Passing through the door felt tingly, with a wash of magic energy bathing over him. Once John was out the other side, he shuddered as the sensation left. He shook his limbs out and cast his eyes upon the castle.
Inside was a spiraling staircase, leading to one single doorway at the top. Red torches cast haunted shadows along the walls. John, seeing no other path, walked to the staircase. He eyed it warily, then carefully placed his foot on it. Solid. So only the walls were breachable then? Hmm. Well, he'd bet that any sort of library or treasure room would be on the floors above.
John made his way up the staircase, soon finding himself across the throne room. Down the Great Hall was a massive dais with a red, black, and green sarcophagus at the top. He imagined Pariah Dark was in it. Did that mean ghosts could die here? A question he would have to ask the phantom.
John knew better than to disturb a final resting place (unless he really absolutely had to), so he looked about for the next set of stairs. Walking around, he found them behind the dais, and made his way up. On the next floor he found the dining room, which wasn't too strange; the souls in the afterlives back home still liked to eat (still got hungry, actually), even if it wasn't physical food like before, and offerings of food could help appease restless ghosts. On the fourth floor he finally came across the library and treasure room. John smiled to himself. Time to get crackin’.
He passed through the doors again, not even bothering to try pushing them open, and walked into a room where all the walls were lined with shelves stuffed full of books. Absolutely humungous lounging chairs were settled throughout, and green flames lit the torches. John strode towards the first bookcase he saw. He raised a hand with a satisfied smirk, and then watched his hand pass through the books.
His face dropped.
His hand stayed raised.
He couldn't grab the books.
He couldn't grab the books.
Bollocks! He was so used to being able to interact with things in the afterlives that he hadn't thought he couldn't do so in the Infinite Realms! He should've taken a hint from being able to literally walk through the doors, but being able to walk on the ground and stairs threw him off!
John crossed his arms and glared at the books. In hindsight, he should have prepared a spell to help him touch what is essentially made of souls. He had that spell to make Boston visible to non-magic users. Maybe he could modify it to let him interact with ectoplasm? Somehow? He wasn't entirely sure where to start with that, since restless souls were fundamentally different from ectoplasmic ghosts, and a dimension made from ectoplasm. The Realms were clearly somewhat sentient. Maybe he could just try asking for special privileges?
He was about to do just that when the library doors slammed open and metal footsteps thundered into the room.
“I can smell your fear, interloper, invisible though thoust may be! Leave, or be felled by my Soul Shredder, and be sent to waking fears!”
And that would be the Fright Knight, John supposed. He hadn't even sensed him coming! Hadn't sensed the phantom either. Was it because this whole place, including them, were made of ectoplasm?
John stayed completely still, eyeing the towering dark knight with flaming purple cape and hair and a massive green broadsword. There was just enough space behind the Fright Knight for John to squeeze through. He carefully stepped over, trying not to make a sound, and had almost made it through when Fright Knight swung an arm out, catching John in the chest, and then pushed him up against the wall. John fell through though, body tingling, and the Fright Knight roared.
John wheezed as he fell on the ground on the other side, back of his head hitting the ground. “You're telling me I can't touch the bloody books but you can touch me?!”
The Fright Knight ran into the hallway, and John scrambled up, carefully backing away to the stairs. “Who are you, human?! Why are you here?!”
John was at the top of the steps. “John Constantine,” he rasped out. “Just thought I'd take a look at the Ghost King's impressive collection. I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me have a library card?”
The Fright Knight started lumbering towards him, sword in his hands. “No! My master's belongings are not for your perusal, thief!”
“I never said I would be stealing anything!” Yet. John had absolutely been planning on taking some books and artifacts home but clearly that wasn't going to work out.
John ran down the stairs as the Fright Knight yelled in outrage. “You humans must cease trespassing in my domain!” Oh, were other humans coming and bugging the bloke? And John somehow wasn't the first? No wonder he was so irritated.
John was at the last step to the dining room and was about to ask for a portal out of here when a black and white figure forced its way up from the throne room floor.
Debris scattered everywhere.
A cracked maw was left behind.
Flaming hair and flowing cape.
The phantom was here.
The phantom glanced around, squinting in suspicion. Ah right, John was still invisible. He forgot that what with the Fright Knight literally being able to sniff him out via his fear. He didn't even think he was afraid! Did the Fright Knight just sense subconscious fear too?
The Fright Knight came down the steps, glared and brandished his sword at the phantom. “Those colors! You are allies with the whelp!”
The phantom scowled in distaste. “‘Allies’ is such a strong word. I much prefer acquaintances.”
The Fright Knight got into a ready stance. “No matter if you are merely foes tied by deals, allies of circumstance, you are still my enemy.”
The phantom shot a feral grin. “Well, I wouldn't exactly consider you my enemy, but I have been wanting to fight you, for nostalgia's sake.”
The Fright Knight gestured at the hole in the floor. “You claim to not be my enemy and yet you tore a hole through my domain?!”
The phantom glanced at the hole. “Ah yes. That. I do that everywhere. I always need a dramatic entrance.” John smirked under his invisibility.
The Fright Knight’s flames flared. “And what do you mean by nostalgia. We have never met before!”
The phantom looked back at him. “We have and we have not. Both in this time and another that doesn't exist anymore. Not that you would know either time easily. But that doesn't matter. Do you want to fight or not?”
The Fright Knight growled. “Very well, gatecrasher, I shall give you what you want.”
John, who was frankly a bit put out that the phantom was actively picking a fight (but also quite a bit amused) backed away to the farthest corner to spectate. What, he still wanted to see. Just to gather info on what they could do and all that. And some curiosity. And maybe something else.
The Fright Knight and the phantom squared off, sword and fists raised. They scanned each other, or rather, the Fright Knight did. The phantom just seemed to be waiting for his opponent to make the first move. In a moment the Fright Knight dashed forward, sword aiming to slash down. The phantom dodged to the side, throwing a punch at the Fright Knight's helm.
The Fright Knight rears back at the blow, but immediately regains his footing and lunges forward again. His sword slashes up and down again and again, the phantom narrowly dodging with ease and gleeful grin. Then suddenly the Fright Knight slashes sideways, sword aiming at the phantom's side. It's barely stopped by a small, green glowing wall, the phantom's opposite hand raised. He laughed at the sight. “Ha! You almost got me!”
The phantom then threw a kick at the Fright Knight, who jumped back and growled. “You are skilled, gatecrasher. But I will not fall so easily!” His purple flames roiled for a second, before he threw his sword down the room, a nightmarish alicorn appearing out of nowhere and catching it in its mouth. He formed a ball of purple energy in his hand - was that a dice? - and threw it at the phantom, who raised a shield to block it. The dice exploded, purple smoke clouding the phantom's vision. He frowned, looking to the sides when a foot swept him off his feet. The phantom crashed to the ground with a yell, the Fright Knight standing over him and about to punch him in the face. The phantom rolled out of the way just in time, before a gauntlet came barreling down, cratering the stone beneath it. The Phantom quickly tried to get up, though Fright Knight aimed a kick at his head. He flew back, sliding across the ground.
The phantom struggled up, the side of his head scuffed, but he was grinning. “Oh that was a good one Fright Knight.” His hands then glowed green, and he shot beams of energy at the Fright Knight, who dodged one but was clipped by the other. He was knocked off balance, still standing, shoulder smoking, but wasn't prepared for the next blast that came and knocked him further off his footing. He was just stabilizing when the phantom flew forward and punched him, sending the Fright Knight crashing into the nearest wall.
The phantom rushed forward and pressed his arm against the Fright Knight’s throat. “Do you yield?”
“Do not presume the fight is already won!” The Fright Knight glared, and purple beams shot out of his eyes, blasting the phantom in the face. The phantom reared back with a roar, hands shooting to his smoking eyes, as the Fright Knight tackled him to the ground. The Fright Knight prepared another dice blast, this one much larger, but then the phantom snarled and pushed the Fright Knight off of him. While the Fright Knight fell to his back with an oomph, the phantom split in two, though the duplicate stood exactly behind him. The Fright Knight then got up and threw the large dice at the phantom, who threw up yet another shield, this one far larger and curved forward at the top. When the dice exploded, the smoke curved back towards the Fright Knight and the duplicate moved.
Once the smoke cleared, the duplicate had the Fright Knight in a headlock, completely unaffected by the Knight's flames. The Fright Knight tried to wrestle out of the grip but the phantom shot forward and forced his hands down. The Knight glared but before he could shoot out eye beams again, the duplicate slapped green bindings over his eyes.
The phantom smiled with a self-satisfied smirk. “Do you yield now?”
The Fright Knight struggled just one last bit, but the phantom's and duplicate's grips did not budge. He sighed. “I yield,” he said in great bitterness.
The phantom grinned and backed off, duplicate dissipating, and he extended a hand to the Fright Knight. Fright Knight stared at it for a second before clasping it, grip firm. The phantom backed away. “How do you feel about making this a regular thing? I for one would be delighted.”
The Fright Knight scowled. “If you return I will make you pay.”
The phantom grinned. “Great! I'll stop by next week!” He looked around again. “You wouldn't have happened to see a human around here would you? Blond, British, brown trench coat and the scent of smoke hanging off his shoulders?”
John figured that was his cue. He dispelled the invisibility spell and stepped away from his corner. “I'm right here. Quite the show you put on, mate.”
The Fright Knight growled at him, and the phantom laughed. “I'm glad you liked it. Why don't we get out of here. I'm sure Fright Knight is quite tired of us by now.”
The Fright Knight scowled, and his flames flickered. “Yes. I am. Now please leave.”
The phantom laughed, the sound both chilling and alluring at the same time, and he gestured towards the stairs. “Let's get out of here, shall we?”
John smiled. “We shall.”
The phantom smirked and led them down the stairs, out of the Keep.
~~~~~
Fright Knight looked at the hole in the floor and sighed, his shoulders dropping. He would have to clean and repair this all by himself. Again! Trespassers are never considerate . . .
~~~~~
Once they were outside, John side-eyed the phantom with a raised brow. “So how'd ya even know I was here?”
The phantom held up his hand, a broken, tiny piece of needle pinched between his fingers. He smirked. “This thing smacked into me while glowing gold. I figured it was you.”
John blinked at it. “Huh. But still, how'd you find me?”
The phantom raised his other hand, holding some sort of device. “Real-world object scanner. Works for people too. Nifty little thing, isn't it?”
John's face twisted at that. “‘Real-world’? That's a bit insulting to this place’s existence isn't it? Just cuz it doesn't work the same as the mortal world doesn't mean this place isn't real.”
The phantom shrugged, though his flames seemed to dull a bit. “The scientists who invented the tech don't think of ghosts as real, per se. Just as meaningless, monstrous copies of people.” The phantom waved a hand around. “To them, all this is just, a cheap copy of their world.”
John sighed. “Course. The science types are always like that. Annoying twats. Eventually you see enough and start figuring that everything may as well be real. No point in questioning it.” John then nodded at the phantom's hand which held the bit of needle. “I'm curious. That there used to be a whole needle, but when I told it to look for ‘the phantom’ it broke into 3 pieces. Have any idea why?”
The phantom scowled, jaw clenching. “Right. Them.” He sighed and crossed his arms. “Do you remember how I'm from another timeline?”
John nodded. “Hard to forget that bit, what with the erasure of what amounts to a whole universe.”
The phantom rolled his eyes, though the corners of his lips twitched. “Well, the timeline we're in right now has my past self, who goes by Danny Phantom. And apparently, he has a clone named Danielle Phantom.” The phantom frowned again, his arms tightening and teeth flashing. “I suppose your needle couldn't tell the difference between the three of us.”
Ah, touchy subject then? John hummed. “Well, I should be able to account for that, now that I know.”
The phantom sighed and let his arms fall. He placed a hand on his waist. “So what were you doing at Pariah’s Keep? Didn't think you'd want to risk seeing your nightmares after our last talk.”
John put his hands in his pockets, shrugging with a smile. “Ah well, never could resist the lure of knowledge even at the cost of my own mind. Came ‘ere looking for books, tomes, grimoires and the like about your Zone here.”
The phantom hummed in thought, hand coming to his chin. “Looking for Ghost Zone knowledge, huh,” he muttered. He frowned, then suddenly loomed over John, eyes glowing fiercely, eyes glowing brighter. “And what do you want that knowledge for, magician? It never ends well when a human knows too much about the Realms, for anyone. You're fun, but if I think you're fun then you're definitely trouble, and we have enough problems with humans as it is.”
John stiffened and hoped his new shield spell could buy him enough time to get away if the phantom decided to attack. He kept a charming smile on his face. “You think I'm fun eh?”
The phantom scowled. “Don't change the topic, what are you looking to gain here?”
John shrugged, and took out a smoke. “Other than feeding my magical knowledge addiction?” He took a long drag, and blew the smoke out. “I never know what I'll need in my line of work, what with the types of crazy I see on the daily. I figure knowing another universe's magic will give me a leg up.” Especially if I ever have to fight one of you myself.
The phantom glared at him, growling. “You're going to keep coming here no matter what I say, aren't you.”
John grinned sharply. “Yup.”
The phantom sighed. “You're so lucky I'm not allowed to murder anymore.”
John felt cold inside at that. He had no doubt the phantom wouldn't hesitate to kill him. “I'm glad about that, for sure.”
The phantom huffed, then grinned sharply. “I suppose I'll just have to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't get into any trouble.”
“Oh? Gonna be my chaperone are you?” John grinned back at the tone change, though inside he felt just a bit perturbed.
The phantom shrugged. “The Observants did tell me to keep an eye on you. May as well.” He seemed to pause and think something over, fire hair flickering, before he came to a conclusion. “Come back in a few days, find me with that needle trick of yours. I’ll have some things you can look at, but not take.”
John would absolutely be trying to find a way to take those things. He looked at the phantom sceptically. “What’s the catch? One moment you were threatening murder and now you’re willing to show me this place’s secrets?”
The phantom grinned and came close. “You can pay me back with a favor. And I will collect on that.”
John took a long, slow drag, and blew smoke into the phantom’s face. “You sure you don’t just want my company?” He threw out a roguish grin.
The phantom’s eyes went wide for a second, hair flickering, before he drew back with a laugh. “Go home John Constantine. I look forward to our next meeting.”
Well, that wasn’t a no. John activated his new spell array, and set the course for home. He heard the phantom whistle behind him as a portal opened to a view of the House of Mystery.
“You figured out how to safely make multiversal portals. You’re a smart man, aren’t you?” The phantom’s sharp gaze seemed to pierce him.
John grinned. “Don’t tell anyone. I don’t want anyone thinking I’m too capable and then giving me more responsibilities.”
The phantom smirked. “No promises.”
John just smiled back and waved. “See you later, spooks,” as he walked through the portal.
~~~~
The phantom stood there for a moment, trying to decipher how he felt. When John joked that he just wanted him for company, when he blew smoke in his face . . . the phantom shook his head. He could think about that later, he had things to get done.
As the phantom flew home, he thought to himself that he would absolutely be placing real-world object sensors around Pariah’s Keep. He couldn’t trust that John Constantine wouldn’t try to get around without him and well, he simply couldn’t let that happen. The man was clearly trouble - afterall, who tries to steal from Pariah’s Keep! Except for Vlad! And Danny that one time, though Danny is just an idiot. Anyone like Vlad is bound to cause chaos. Chaos that the phantom will have to fix. Well, that, and he also would like to be witness to said chaos. Sue him, he’s been bored.
Speaking of, Vlad would certainly help with the real-world object sensors. Hmm, and maybe Vlad could help him come up with a new name for those things. John did have a point . . .